Pasta Primavera Pasta Primavera

Fresh pasta with seasonal vegetables, tossed in a light garlic and olive oil sauce.

MACARONI

MACARONI

24 Darkes Lane Potters BarEN6 2HW, London, United Kingdom

Pizza • Vegan • Italian • Vegetarian


"Maaroni is my local as it is less than a 5-minute walk from me. Not only have I eaten here a countless number of times since it opened, I also get takeaways from here often. Unfortunately, this was the first time I had ever been left feeling very disappointed. To begin with, I was given a bottle of sparkling water with no glass, let alone lemon/ice/straw. Had to ask for a glass I was not going to drink out of a big bottle. It was difficult to explain things to our waitress, especially as we wanted to remove some pizza toppings and add on others; I had to show her the menu with toppings written down so that she could catch the spellings. Moreover, I requested for cacio e pepe, and the waitress confirmed that the chefs would be able to make anything off-menu. I had to explain what the dish was, and showed the waitress the list of ingredients for it. She went back and forth several times to the chef and I, and ultimately said that the kitchen did not have pecorino cheese. I said that that could be substituted for the next best thing, as long as the sauce was creamy, cheesy, buttery and peppery. When the dish arrived, it was a buttery spaghetti with a lump of cheese in the top. At this point, another waitress began to serve our table. Let her know that the cheese should be almost melted in; she took the dish back for it to be re-made which took a long time, by which point we had nearly finished our mains. After our mains we were told that we need to leave within 15 minutes, and we were not given dessert menus nor did we request the bill, it just arrived. I had brought my aunt and uncle to Macaroni for the first time and they were looking forward to dessert. It was highly embarrassing that this option was not even offered, and even more embarrassing that we were rushed off the table. There were 5 of us, 1hr 45mins is not enough time for a relaxed 3-course meal. If the restaurant is unable to honour a 3-course meal for 5 people, they should not confirm the booking."

Zizzi

Zizzi

28 Broadway, Heath, DA6 7LL, Bexley, United Kingdom

Pizza • Sushi • Seafood • European


"Some days ago, my mother and I dined at Zizzi’s to celebrate her recent career progression. We arrived without prior booking at 5:50pm on a Monday evening, at which point it was quiet and cavernous, with a choice of seating. We ordered the mozzarella garlic bread and fried calamari with aioli, drizzled with lemon for starters, to share. They both arrived promptly and were flavoursome without compromising quantity. Not only, was the mozzarella garlic bread simultaneously crisp yet fluffy, oily and salty, and heated to a pleasant degree. But also, the fried calamari was battered aptly, without sacrificing the quantity of the calamari. Soon after, we were met with our own generous dish of prawn linguini, topped with rocket. The linguini was twirled into a neat formation, with a mix of textures. While, the the tomato sauce was smooth and subtly rich, ample for the multiple hot linguini strips, the shaved courgette added a fine crunch, and the prawns constituted to a meaty density. However, within an hour, the restaurant was almost full, with the multitude of loudening conversations making it difficult to hear. Therefore, I would recommend eating early if you are someone who prefers a quieter experience. Also, although I was a student with a discount card, giving me access to 30% off on that particular instance. It is worthy to note that this is likely to be a somewhat costly evening, if you are someone who will order more than one course, or if you are a family, paying for multiple people."

Zizzi

Zizzi

Unit Su01 Resorts World Birmingham Pendigo Way, B40 1PU, Solihull, United Kingdom

Pizza • Pasta • Salad • Drinks


"Visited on valentines day. Of course on a busy day like that it was always going to be difficult for the front of house to provide the best service. However, the main problem with zizzi as a whole at the moment is the app ordering. To get the app was easy enough with the bar code on the table with table number. But, ordering is not as personal as you expect from a restaurant. By this I mean when ordering a pizza you expect to be able to customise the toppings as its one of the most customisable meals out there. But the app had no option for this meaning we avoided the pizza. In the end, we ordered the new sharer starter, a beef shin meal with potatoes and ricotta filled tortelloni. The starter was just amazing, beautifully cooked fried calamari, oozy arancini with mozzarella filling, tangy caprese salad and garlicky garlic bread. A great starter to share, for it was a bit much but perfect for or With such a great start we were then let down by the mains. My beef shin was cooked nicely and the broccoli accompaniment paired well, but the cheesy potato that was supposed to come with it was replaced by chips, due to running out. I understand that when you run out there isn't anything to do, however because we ordered on the app no one warned us about this until it arrived, and by then it is too late to change. However, it was the tortelloni that was really disappointing. It came as described, the spicy tomato ragu was tasty, but the filling of ricotta was horrible. It had the texture of strange mash potato and was devoid of taste. Because of this we both decided not to finish our dishes. The saving grace for this visit was the starter and the service we received from a hectic front of house. When we mentioned the tortelloni the manager was kind enough to remove it from the bill, even after resistance from myself. From seeing other tables you could see that the waiter's/waitresses were truly trying their best to save everyone's nights. So I give them stars because the starter was lovely and the staff were doing their best. But the marks are lost with a poor consistency of food quality and an app that needs updating or removing."