Address: 103 Highgate Rd, London, NW5 1TR, United Kingdom
Phone: +442072679797
Rating: 4.6
based on 192 reviews.
Food Quality
Pros:
"The food is always excellent, with generous portions served hot."
"Food was outstanding, service is even better!"
"Delicious. If you're looking for good pasta and pizza, go here."
"Couldn’t recommend this place highly enough it is such good value, genuinely delicious food😊"
"The food was delicious and portion sizes generous."
"The food here is fantastic! I live only 10 minutes away and we come here all the time as a family."
"Food is delicious and staff are very friendly and helpful."
Cons:
"the food is very mediocre and stodgy extremely hot and tasteless"
"Vongole was disappointing. Pasta was overcooked, clams were alright but too many broken shells."
"The Spaghetti Carbonara I had, without doubt, was not made with eggs, so not what I expected and not as advertised on the menu!"
"The pastas are not fresh, they are industrial. The sauces are not well done."
"the chicken main was bland"
"Our pizza was wet drenched in oil looked like the toppings were someone else's raw pepperoni it was horrible"
"The fresh pasta/mushroom truffle, (£17) it was very bland, & watery."
Service
Pros:
"The service was really friendly and the food was excellent."
"The service is of high standard, you will never be waiting to catch a waiter to ask for something and the owner is spot on host and provides a warm welcome."
"Great all round, staff were friendly and helpful and dealt with any questions very well and resolved any issues quickly."
"The staff were very welcoming and friendly."
"The service from Luca and the team was exceptional - thank you!"
"Service is professional and very friendly."
"The staff were amazing, very friendly, helpful & efficient."
Cons:
"Other then the short gentlemen in his 40s and the lady with glasses I think the waiters are rude."
"The staff are rude"
"At no point was I welcomed, asked what I’d like to drink or whether I’d like a starter."
"All the employees saw me waiting, but all ignored me."
"Not once was we asked if the food was okay."
"Food was great, service from the start was passive aggressive."
"The customer service was NOT GOOD."
Atmosphere & Decor
Pros:
"If you like good italian food and patisserie, this is a very good place to go."
"The area may seem somewhat unsettling to some, but it really isn't bad and the tranquillity of the restaurant transports you."
"buzzy but unpretentious atmosphere"
"Lovely, true Italian food. Thin pizza crusts, beautiful presentation."
"Delicious food, excellent service & beautiful environment following the recent refurb."
"The atmosphere is so friendly and welcoming!"
"Beautiful renovated. Lots of space.!!! Very clean!"
Cons:
"This place used to be great before they did it up. Since the renovation and expansion the food has gone way downhill and it has lost its charm."
"Unfortunately the extraction fan of the kitchen facing the dining hall is really noisy."
"I found the place a little too pretentious."
"Tiny cute place. Unfortunately the extraction fan of the kitchen facing the dining hall is really noisy."
"The decor was well laid out and sweet, but maybe ever so slightly tacky for my own tastes."
"The servers did vary in the attention they gave to each of the tables, and were very abrupt when needing the table back."
"The entrance doesn't indicate that the restaurant has a modern decor and space for eating inside."
Value
Pros:
"Perfectly priced and satisfying Italian food."
"Authentic Italian food. Wide selection of options for lunch and reasonably priced."
"Highly recommend this Italian family run restaurant."
"100% recommend"
"The price is beautiful!"
"Great local find... ridiculous value (just over £20 pp for three courses and soft drinks)"
"Large portions for a reasonable price !!!!"
Cons:
"However, at over £45 per head I’d expect better!"
"For the unreasonable price of £8.50 we were served literally ONE artichoke cut in half."
"Charging quite a lot of money, for nothing special but average dishes."
"As a final point, the prices have gone up too for terrible service and very average food."
"Overpriced compared to others. £15-£20 for a pasta dish I have higher expectations."
"£30 for 7 shots of limoncello, way too expensive after a full meal: Italian tradition would be to offer it to a big table."
"I was surprised as to why we were charged £2.50 for tap water that came in open refillable jugs."
Authenticity
Pros:
"Authentic Italian food. Wide selection of options for lunch and reasonably priced."
"This is authentic and quality Italian food and wine."
"Very friendly service and feels very authentic Italian."
"This is Italy on a plate! Authentic Italian pizzas and pastas, friendly, responsive staff, legitimately good food."
"Amazing and authentic Napolitan-style pizza."
"Rossella never disappoints: an authentic mouthwatering Italian food experience."
"First time I’ve had completely authentic, great tasting, perfectly priced and satisfying Italian food in a long time."
Cons:
"Nothing wrong with the place, but don’t expect Italian food. It’s just done in “their own way”."
"One of the least authentic Italian restaurants I’ve dined in."
"Their pizzas are not cooked in a wood-fired oven (a must for proper pizza), and the ingredients used were really average."
"Pizza is far away from the Italian standard and not authentic."
"As far from authentic Italian food as you can find."
"Do NOT get the spaghetti bolgnese - I would think with the good reviews it has (which is why I chose this place), that it would have homemade THIN spaghetti, this one was so thick and reminded me of school dinners."
"We had carbonara and risotto marinara ... they were very far from what any average Italian person would cook. Very disappointing!"