Tagliatelle Bolognese Tagliatelle Bolognese
Cacciari's Restaurant Sth Kensington - Old Brompton Rd

Cacciari's Restaurant Sth Kensington - Old Brompton Rd

United Kingdom, SW7 3LQ, London

Pasta • Pizza • Steak • Indian


"My wife and I were down in London to see a show and stayed over in Hammersmith and I'd found this place beforehand and had booked a table and good job I had, every table was taken and they were turning people away all evening. We shared the pizza focaccia bread to start, which was lovely, soft and warm and served with olive oil and balsamic, to dip into. My wife then had the seafood tagliolini dish and said it was the best pasta dish she's ever had and she loves pasta and regularly has it when we got out, so that is high praise. The prawns were proper big and meaty and the crab soft and she said every mouthful was a fishy taste sensation. Often with this type of dish the primary taste is tomatoes and the fish plays second fiddle but not here. I had the fillet steak in a peppercorn sauce with rosemary potatoes and a rocket and parmesan salad. I'd asked for my steak medium and it was spot on, cooked to perfection. Peppercorn sauce probably wouldn't be my first choice (blue cheese would) but this sauce was lovely, yes it had peppercorns in it but it was a hint, not overwhelming and detracting from the steak. The rosemary potatoes were lovely too and whilst a rocket and parmesan salad might be a simple dish and difficult to get wrong, it is possible but this was great too and went perfectly with my meal. My only slight criticism, and I haven't marked them down over it, as that would be unfair, because the meal was good, is that my Cacciari's handcrafted beer wasn't cold enough, barely cold even and it needed to be, so a tip for them, try to make sure your beer is cold. My glass of Chiaretto Del Garda on the other hand, was perfectly chilled and quaffable. Also, the service was impeccable, attentive but not intrusive, just how it should be. We've commented to ourselves about restaurants before, that those that seem to have a maitre d or someone who just has that all seeing eye, are so good and stand out from the crowd, well done. Would I go again, too right I would, would I recommend it, without hesitation but make sure you book. Dined 25th November."

San Carlo

San Carlo

4 Temple Street, B2 5BN, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Pasta • Steak • Pizza • Italian


"This was the same night that we transferred over to the San Carlo restaurant after a bad experience at the sister restaurant next door at Fumo (see other review) We were greeted professionally and taken to a table, sat next to the kitchen. Unfortunately, this restaurant had the same view as Fumo of quantity versus customer experience. All the tables were so tightly positioned that even the staff couldn’t walk between them to serve the customers. The waiter who took our drinks order, was very friendly and provided good advice on wines . The waitress who took our food order was very friendly accommodating. We started the meal with calamari and bruschetta. Both were delicious. Unfortunately, the main courses ruined our entire experience. My husband ordered the surf and turf style lobster and steak combo what a treat for our special occasion. What a shame more like! The steak was overcooked for his request of medium and the lobster was cold. When we advised the waitress, she came and took the lobster off his plate, leaving him with the steak. Five minutes later, returned with the same piece of lobster that had she told us had “been put under the grill for five minutes” to heat it up. This meant that the lobster was completely dried out and inedible. I ordered the gnocchi with beef Ragu. Because the plates had not been warmed, my dish was cold around the outside and a warm in the middle. It also only contained 10 pieces of gnocchi, and that is it. We were asked if we wanted anything else to eat, but we declined as we had theatre tickets and were aware that all the staff were now talking about us. When presented with the bill, both of the dishes were on there, but they had taken off the service charge . I had advised that we should not be paying for the lobster and steak or the gnocchi, as neither dish had met expectation or was edible. The female supervisor got very defensive with me and basically told me, that I would be paying for it at which point, I asked to speak to the General Manager. He was more understanding and removed the 2 dishes from the bill. Unfortunately, we had a gift voucher so now we have a credit to reuse at another one of their chain restaurants. After trying 2 in one night , we are reluctant to try another one again."

La Trattoria By Alfredo Russo

La Trattoria By Alfredo Russo

15 Cromwell Pl, South Kensington, London SW7 2LA, United Kingdom

Vegan • Italian • Vegetarian • Gluten Free


"Hidden below street level, this restaurant is as one keen reviewer eloquently put it 'a tourist trap ' for nearby visitors to the museums of South Kensington. In essence it hosts an expensive menu with average tasting food. I 'm sure they 're only surviving because of a guaranteed minimum level of customers who 'll unwittingly stroll in without heeding the warnings of these reviews. In the restaurant 's defence, the decor is homely and the service from staff is very attentive indeed I was asked by two separate staff during my meal whether everything was okay which felt a bit parental but mostly non threatening all the same. I 'd gone for the margherita pizza which at £7 seemed like a bargain. You could easily get full on this, despite tasting rather bland. However, I was feeling somewhat adventurous and decided to add pickled artichokes (nope, not fresh) and mushrooms as toppings for £1.50 extra each. Thinking this wouldn 't be enough, I included a side of spinach into the mix for £5: what I was served with was a small bowl of half boiled baby spinach leaves really should 've been another pizza topping as that 's what it turned into. Overall, disappointingly average, and they 'll include a service charge because they expect you to be one of many money donning tourists sprinkling cash in the already hideously wealthy area. Try your appetite resolving luck elsewhere."

Vittoria

Vittoria

13 Brunswick Street, Edinburgh, EH75HR, EH1 1EN, United Kingdom

Pub • Pizza • Mexican • Italian


"I try to avoid restaurants around the royal mile, victoria street and george iw bridge, as they are a super tourist hotspot that was over fee but I was pleasantly surprised at vittoria on the bridge. it is very italian, the interieur is beautiful and quite swedish (a little dark for my taste,) but beautiful. the waiting staff are super friendly and very helpful and as most italian quite charming. I was the first to arrive and was shown at our table, but it was right in front of the kitchen, so I asked to be moved really not lust to eat my lunch to watch the kp clean the dishes! Luckily to another table in the center of the restaurant we moved the menu. her a la carte menu is extensive, but they also have the lunch card with the £95 for appetizers we ate: polpette her own tasty meatballs in a tasty sweet and sour tomato sauce with a side garlic bread. that is a great part for a starter. I say it tastes good. the tamato sauce was in fact sweet, thick and very tomato ey. insalata caprese mini creamy mozzarella balls, lush wine grape tomato, oil olive with extra virgin olive oil. a really nice clean fresh plate of eating. for the net we ate: vittorias steak burger served in a briocheen bungalow with streaky bacon smoked mozzarella served with clobigen chips a tomaten ragu sauce. that was good for a burger when a little dry. tagliatelle alla bolognese a classic; eiband pasta coated with a rich chop meat ragu. I ordered this court and it was really good. the pasta was soft but not soggy, and the ragu was perfectly spiced with a light sharp handle with a rounded sweet at the end. undoubtedly the same wut as per Polpette starter. the star of the day, however, was the gnocchi ai funghi di bosco gnocchi with porcini forest mushrooms, with garlic, petersilie and a hauch of rich truffle infused extra virgin olive oil. this is just excellent and I was so jealous when my friend ordered this court; and a court I will soon order for lunch. the truffle oil raised the rich wooden farms of the Porcini plant. the whole dish worked and it was creamy, light, fluffy, silky and very full. Peroni beer washes everything down. I should have let this place really go a long time ago, it is a jewel in the tourist place! great eating too great for locals."

Fumo

Fumo

1 Waterloo Street, B2 5PG, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Wine • Pizza • Pasta • Steak


"I have been visiting fumo for 10 years, as a family and with friends we have always enjoyed it. Last night I had a terrible and upsetting experience. To start with we had to navigate through the terrible city Christmas traffic so we called to say we would be late, we were told no problem. Upon arrival we had to wait in a long queue to be seated which added more time only to then be told our table had been given away to a walk in. We were then found a table in the bar and told we could have it for one hour. No one offered to take our coats as they usually do, they started taking our plates away before we had finished eating and not once asked if everything was ok. We spent over £200 and this is how we were treated! In addition to this the noise was ridiculous and the toilets absolutely disgusting! We refused to pay the service charge and the bill was snatched out of my friends hand by the manager with long black hair and a beard (not sure of his name). He then out of spite charged an extra £200 to my friends card which she will not get back in to her account for 5 days. He stomped off when we said this needed to be resolved. We then asked to speak to the main manager, this person also spoke down to us, would not listen to our concerns and kept talking over us. At this point the other manager walked past and swore at us! We felt intimidated as a group of women and I have been left feeling upset by the whole experience. This was once a classy establishment and one of the nicest restaurants in town, I don’t know what has happened but I have read other negative reviews about the restaurant and this particular person so clearly there has been a change of managers.. the service has always been 5 star but things have rapidly gone downhill here. After enjoyed fumo for many years, I will not be returning."