Tentazioni

I took my friends to my favourite restaurant in London.

They enjoyed every minute. The food was fantastic but Black Tagliatelle and Seabass was superb, the Staff ever friendly.

A great night out and we all cant wait to return.
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Sam
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Had a meal here for the first time last night, not such a stellar food & service experience as previous reviewers.

To start off, when I phoned up a hour in advance of our reservation to say we were running approx. 30 mins late for our booking, the person I spoke practically tutted down the phone at me, warning that we would be arriving “at exactly the same time as another table” and that the restaurant “would do it’s best”. Hardly very welcoming , and quite frankly laughable given that when we did arrive (only 15 mins late in the end) , it was to a virtually empty restaurant, with the next table not turning up for a full 30 mins!!

Service was generally ok, with the minor niggle that despite specifically asking the wine waiter (twice) for a light red of 12-12.5 %, the one we were presented with was 13%.

Food: not bad, but very overpriced for what it was. I ordered starter of squid ink tagliatelle with seafood, which came as a generous portion but unfortunately without the squid ink tagliatelle – the waiter made no mention of the substitution of plain tagliatelle either when I ordered or when it arrived. Grilled seabass has a distinct whiff of butane/whatever gas was used when it was cooked. Side order of mashed potato came swimming in olive oil. Foie gras was lovely though. No idea what the desserts were like as did not stick around for those. Maybe we caught them on a bad night, but based on this experience I would not go back.
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JS
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Just to echo many of the comments here, this is a super place. Italian food in London is dismal for some reason. Having looked forward to a visit to Locatelli's place, and having been surprised by how brutally average and overpriced it was, it was with limited expectation that I took my seat in Tentazioni.

The tasting menu, with the wine-matched options, was tempting indeed, so went with that. 5 good courses followed, with 5 good wines. Great service and some nice modern twists on a variety of Italian regional cuisines, were in evidence. My steak was done a bit more than rare and some of the flavour combinations fell a little short (olives dominated the potato and octopus salad and a standard buttery sauce seemed to come with everything), but overall we had a very enjoyable meal and I'll certainly return.
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Antonio Cavaldoro
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, July 06, 2008

Tentazioni - a rare restaurant, in that you get good quality food which is well presented, good service and great atmosphere/ambience. We chose the good value tasting menu which consisted of 5 good courses for only £40.00 .

A special restaurant for special occassions. We will definitely go back. Recommended!
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B.A.
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Had dinner at Tentazione at april 1, 2008. Restaurant is very cosy but someone insisted on horrible hidden neonlight that f... ed up the atmosphere a little bit.

Otherwise beautiful place with red walls that immediately get you in the mood to relax and enyou. Very professional, friendly staff who did not make a fuss about cooking a spaghetti carbonara for one of the children while the menu only suggested truely supreme italian food. The staff waited on our table with discretion and care. The menu was of a high standard and their cook definitively knows what he/she is doing. Delicious whatever you order!!

Tentazione is one of the few italian restaurants in London that keeps up to my expectations and serves real italian food in a chique but easy-going atmosphere.

Their winelist is a real treat and they help you find the perfect match of wine to your meal. I ask for a nice glass of white wine to start with and they suggested a Grecanico. The taste was excactly what I had be looking for so I ordered a bottle of it to complement my meal.

All together the price for that evening matched the quality of the food and wine we had. I have eaten in other italian restaurant that were crap and more expensive.

If you like italian food, go for Tentazione, I promise you a great lunch/ evening and a very pleasant experience.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 04, 2008

A friend recommended this restaurant to me. She raved on about the excellent service and she is completely right.

We had the tasting menu - 5 small dishes for £40. You can also have 5 glasses of wine (they pick best wine for the dish) for an extra £22 but we didn't want to drink that much, They picked 2 wines for us and they were excellent. Rarely have I found wines of such good quality that can be served by the glass.

The service is really friendly but not pushy.

Most expensive places I have been to make you feel awkward or are too pretentious, but this was just so welcoming.

The bill came to £150 but the place is special and the food was amazing. Every mouthful was great. really unusual items

It's so refreshing to find an Italian place, run by Italins that doesn't have standard items usch as bolognaise, carbonara and insalata tricolor!

It really reminded me of being back in italy.

It's small - it was just over half full last night - but service was relaxed.
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joli
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Still the best. Just brilliant. Keep it up guys.
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David
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, September 15, 2007

Still the best Italian in London and better than most in Italy I have been to...actually all.

The best bit is that no-one goes since it is considered "East" - makes me laugh
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Anon - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 23, 2007

I'm not sure it's in my best interests to write this - because at the moment it's relatively easy to get a table. I've started going about once a month - which isn't enough because the menu changes monthly and there always seems to be an embarrassment of riches on the menu.

Recent highlights included a particularly sweet succulent pork dish, accompanied by king prawns in squid ink ravioli, pancetta and pea sauce - and probably a few other things as well that I've forgotten. Sound weird? It was a fantastic and surprisingly cohesive combination. Trusting the chef really pays dividends here.

Service, led by Diego, is excellent - you always feel welcomed and well looked after.

Noting some of the comments below, I understand that the chef, Riccardo, is now the sole owner, which tends to be a good thing in restaurants.

Not cheap in absolute terms, but actually very good value compared to similarly high quality restaurants elsewhere in London.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Few words to say thank you to Diego and Daniel for the lovely night at Tentazioni.Unforgettable and terrific food.
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Mike
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, December 20, 2006