Sartoria

We booked the restaurant week "deal" , which is actually their usual pre-theatre set menu. We go out a lot in central London and have had many pre-theatre meals . Choices are usually limited but will cover all tastes and we had never had a bad experience until Sartoria. The choices were awful. The food, when it did arrive was mediocre at best. I was not served anything I couldn't cook at home myself in less than half an hour. Furthermore, for some dishes the portions were very small. The wine was lovely, but of course expensive. The "deal" came to £55 per head. There are many restaurants in London, for £55 I would recommend going somewhere else!
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Jennifer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Sunday, April 27, 2008

Nice looking restaurant. Attentive staff.

Bit too dark - I had to keep moving the candles to see what my food looked like. (And no one relit it when it went out!)

Cold draft, so we had to put our jackets back on.

Toilets really dark too. Use your hand held mirror under the spotlight in the cubicle to see what your make-up's looking like! Freezing water in the basins in the washrooms.

Few staff understand special diets.

Food nice, but really small portions. Not worth the money.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Sunday, February 17, 2008

We (me and my wife) went to the Sartoria tonite almost by accident ! We have not been to London for almost 20 years and we have just arrived from Vienna. We stayed at the Marble Arch and after a long walk from the Oxford Street / Regent Street, we landed at the Sartoria. We were attracted by the ambience as looked from the outside.

Well, the service was good and the food quality was also not bad. We ordered the Lamb and the Monk Fish as main courses and they were really good. Price is clearly a bit on the high side as compared with my other experience elsewhere in Europe but it is London afterall.

A very good dining experience after being away for 20 years; perhaps with the slight exception that lady at the reception wasn't too helpful upon departure.

Overall, a very recommendable restaurant.
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William
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 08, 2008

On Saturday my husband and I had our first baby free night out in London in over 18 months and were luckily enough to have a Conran restaurant voucher. I booked the Sartoria after reading mixed reviews as we also wanted to see the Christmas lights and our evening was a success. On our arrival we enjoyed a drink at the bar, which was modern and comfortable, and would recommend it for a quiet drink after a busy day of shopping or being a tourist. The service during dinner was one of the best we have seen in London, the food enjoyable and the wine we were recommended was excellent. Even though it is pricey (though not by London standards) I would go back as we liked the location, that it wasn't noisy and there was no rush for us to finish.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

I have passed the restaurant on many occasions and on a cold winters evening it have always looked at the warm glow from the inspired lighting inside. On Saturday i decided to take my wife for a meal in London and the Sartoria seemed to be the obvious choice. We did not book a table and were able to walk straight in. The table that we were shown to had a sofa seat and this made the experience more relaxing. The wines were varied and reasonably priced. The menu was simple and offered a choice of fish, vegetarian or meat courses. I went for the Venison with artichoke and pumpkin; it was very rich and suited to the cold winter weather outside. My wife had Tuna steak and said it was perfect. Overall a very good experience with nothing to find fault with. You get what you pay for.
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Toby
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Sunday, December 02, 2007

Traveling for business, strolling on Bond / New Bond St., I came upon Sartoria and popped in for dinner. The bar area was very comfortable. The bartender very attentive. The menu was varied and interesting. I had a main course portion of the Wild Boar Cannelloni. I am not typically an adventurous diner, but it sounded very good (porcini mushrooms, a light sauce). It was really delicious. The bartender brought a glass of port over about 2/3rds through the meal which was perfect. The area is a great shopping district and good for people watching. I recommend the place and would return with business or family if I have the opportunity.
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New Yorker in London
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, November 29, 2007

we arrived from paris for a shopping weekend in london. our hotel concierge recommended sartoria for a good italian dinner. we found well below standards of cooking we are used to in paris. we also found it to be very very expensive for what they serve. I used to live in london judging on our dining exprience in sartoria I am glad I don't.
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Amelie
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, November 18, 2007

My husband and I are both Italian and were looking very much forward to our meal at Sartoria. We were very pleased with the wine list, and the menu was unique, to say the least. My husband thoroughly enjoyed his meal of the lamb and crispy rice. I asked for just plain pasta with tomato and basil - not on the menu - and the obliged and it was quite good. Our problem arose when the bill arrived and my simple past dish was more than £23! On top of that, on the way home the manager offered us use of their car rather than fetch us a taxi. The chauffer first got lost and then charged us TRIPLE the rate of a regular black cab. A good meal was quickly forgotten over those last two items.
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Dre
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Friday, October 26, 2007

We have just eaten at Sartoria with a large group of foodies and find it impossible to find fault. We had a fabulous meal with very interesting and well cooked cuisine. The wine selection is inspired, we tasted some previously undiscovered italian gems.

Suggest you ignore the previous unsatisfied revewers comments and try Sartoria for yourself. We hope you will be pleasantly surprised.
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Peter and Lu
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, October 09, 2007

We went to Sartoria for a post Icebar meal as part of a work do and the décor was fantastic. The service was also fairly good but the food was a disgrace. I am not normally the most critical person, but I was shocked at the poor level of cooking. I am not sure if it was due to it being a work function in the back room with a different set menu and they focus on serving the smaller groups of customers better but this is still not an excuse.

The starter was a ball of buffalo mozzarella bigger than my fist. It was fairly bland mozzarella although this was not my complaint. It was supposed to be a starter not an entire meal consisting of cheese.

For the main I had the rib eye steak which we were not asked how we would like it served, not that it probably would have made any difference. The steak came out well done and was dry enough to leech the water out of my mouth.

The desert was the mildest cheesecake I have ever had. I did enjoy it, although it was so unadventurous that it could have been bought from Tesco.

The private hire room looks fantastic and the staffs serving us were wonderful, but the kitchen staff would be more suited to work in an east end greasy spoon (although I have had better steaks in those). This was the general consensus amongst 35+ people attending. I will certainly not be returning.
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Guy
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 0
Friday, August 17, 2007