Orso

BEWARE!! This restaurant is a complete rip-off.This is a tourist trap!! Firstly let us start with the decor- it is underground in a basement which looks like it hasn't undergone any refurbishment in the last 15 years- it looks like a converted gentleman's toilet with broken tiles and water damaged ceilings- I would hate to imagine what it looks like during the day. (The dimmed night lighting hides a multitude of sins). Now on to the menu- I ordered the starters - asparagus with Parmesan for £11.50- I should have guessed- 4 spears of uncooked asparagus with a few shavings of Parmesan- extortion! Now on to my main course- Slow cooked crispy pork- badly presented with 3 uninspiring rosemary potatoes for the grand price of £18.50. But the best joke came with desert- flowerless chocolate cake which consisted of the merest slither of chocolate cake accompanied by half a teaspoon of marscapone all for £6.50- the mark up on this is outrageous! The worst part of all of this is that I wasn't paying the bill so I really couldn't complain. If I was I am sure that the Management would still be licking their wounds. I felt sorry for my hosts who had to foot the bill for this appalling mess of a meal. One has a view of the filthy kitchen which is enough to make you leg it on sight! On a good note, the poor grubby waiters do their best to provide reasonable service with a smile whilst they serve the food on chipped crockery and bent cutlery.
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Greg Stuart
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, May 29, 2011

The appeal of this place baffles me. We have eaten there three or four times in the past year and each time I have been struck by how ordinary the food is. But what has tipped me over the edge and see me vow never to return is the restaurant's continued use of broken crockery. This may seem churlish, and the odd chipped plate won't kill you, but every time we have eaten here we have been served food and coffee in chipped crockery.

Yesterday, we spent almost £300 on lunch for four, and each of us had at least one chipped or cracked piece of crockery. It's not 'kooky' or 'laid-back', its unhygenic, unneccessary and totally unacceptable to expect people to pay a huge amount of money and serve it to them in this way.
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3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Thursday, March 31, 2011

We ate at Orso this evening and was rather disappointed. We ordered the theatre menu £18.00 for 3 courses. For starter we ordered the sardines which were quite dry, they really could have done with something like a lemon mayo dressing. The main arrived which was duck with butternut squash, looked delicious but was cold. We returned it to the kitchen and it was replaced, piping hot duck but luke warm veg.The plates were really cold so by the time you got the food it was nearly cold.Saying that it was very tastey. Desert was pannacotta with marinated plums, this was delightful.Coffee was served again luke warm! By this point we just laughed and gave up. The house wine was great and the waitress and staff could not have been more helpful. Such a shame as a few small improvements would have made it a great meal.
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G May
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

We ate at Orso last night. The food was appalling. Being an Italian restaurant, we stuck to Italian food, but it was poorly prepared, tasteless and not pleasant at all. In addition at £40 a head (there were 4 of us and we had one bottle of wine between us) it is outrageously expensive. Do not eat here.
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3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, December 28, 2009

Very decent food (Venison delicious, Calves liver even better, vegetable side dishes about good enough, Pizza looked disappointing). Nice bottle of Merlot. Service a bit mixed but decent.

Interesting surrounding and busy even mid-week. Right in the West End – very conveniently located if you’re going to a show around Convent Garden.

I liked it and I’ll go again – it’s not cheap (starters around £10, mains around £20, veg. sides at £3.50) but it’s good for that special occasion. The mains look excellent value for money, starters less so.

Service is included on the bill - I hate that - I would have given the same amount in cash and felt better about knowing it went to the staff.
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Rex - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 10, 2009

My wife, Wendy, and I (both considerably senior citizens!) dined at Orso late on Wednesday after a memorable evening with Russ Abbott in Oliver! (he is tremendous, by the way.)

Not for the first time, we commented on how nicely we were received, how quickly we were seated and how enthusiastically friendly and knowledgeable the delightful staff are. No surprise, then, that the meal was superb, the ambience perfect, and the house red as good as ever!

Then the clincher: my wife, alas, decided at the end of the meal to have one of her periodic fainting fits (all causes have been checked; it just happens, apparently!) That's when Linda and her staff really went beyond the call of duty. They were helpful, kind, solicitous - and just plain marvellous. Thanks, Linda and all. We'll definitely be back - and Wendy promises not to repeat the performance!
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Robert Wright, Droitwich Spa
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, April 17, 2009