Bertorelli (Charlotte St)

I'm not used to London prices but was still very surprised at being charged £5.95 for a 2/3 bottle of lager; also £1.80 for a tonic water, which was ordered with no ice but nevertheless came with ice. I was nearly caught by the added 12.5% service charge. I wondered how I had missed this on the menu but then I saw at the bottom of the bill 'a 12.5% discretionary service charge has been added to your bill'. On the grounds of the perceived high drink prices and the relatively slow service due to us having little time, I was quick witted enough to have it removed.

Service was slowish and food OK but plain and basic.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Monday, June 08, 2009

went there on a saturday night. we were told that we would have a table in 30min but that took about 50min and only after we complained. then it took more 20-30min to take our orders. thank god we did not order starters!

Food was ok (Even though the milanese was suspicious not veal-like) but it was very obvious that the waiters had almost forgotten us.

Looking at the other critics it seems it is not well organised. Would not go back there.

Cant believe that i had to pay 12% charge for such ridiculous service.

As an experience i would strongly advice against visiting.
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AndyL
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bertorelli was such a disappointment. I went to the Charlotte Street restaurant last week for a meal with my parents and some other family members. My father remembers it being a lovely real italian restaurant (that I think was family run) that he used to go to when he worked in London. Unfortunately he was rather disappointed to see that has all changed and it is now just like any other generic chain restaurant, just much more expensive!

The actual decor and setting looks quite nice but the quality of the food and service was not up to scratch. The food was of mixed quality. There were 7 of us, 3 of us had fish dishes which were pretty good but the pasta and risotto dishes were nothing special and certainly not what we expected at those prices.

For a starter my father had the minestone soup and all 7 of us were shocked at how bad it was - it can only be described as very strong garlic flavoured green water! Luckily after he told the restaurant it was the worst soup he had ever tasted - it was taken off the bill.

The service was not great. Our waitress was very sweet and did her best but it was clear that they were short staffed both in terms of the waiting staff in the resturant and in the kitchen as the food took quite a long time to arrive. Some of our side dishes did not even arrive until after we had finished our main couse even though we kept asking for them.

To make things worse we were sat next to the very loud function room. Fair enough the group were having fun and I would not like to suggest that they shouldn't but the waiters kept leaving the door open so we couldn't hear anything, even though we asked for the door to be left closed. At one point we even had to get up and close the door ourselves!

I do not think I would go back to Bertorelli. If it was a more reasonable price then I might consider it but not at this price. To top it all there was a 12.5% service charge and a cover charge!

It is such a shame that lovely nice restaurants get turned into something like this but still live on the reputation of the name.
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Monday, August 11, 2008

Was unfortunate enough to have not done a little research online before visiting this place with some friends. Much like my main course, this review wont be very substantial:

- The price is ridiculous.

- The serving sizes are pathetic.

- Standard of food is average, but when coupled with the price, is downright offensive.

- Presentation of the food was messy.

- Ambience was lacking, it's quite sterile.

- Cover charge + service charge totaling over 20% was the kind of ending i expected and received. Denied.

Walked home and made a B-line to the fridge for a real meal.
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The Hungriest Hippo - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 07, 2008

Booked lunch in the main restaurant, with a new potential business contact. Good setting, with tables far enough apart to have a good conversation without having to worry people are listening. Some fairly tempting dishes, not extraordinary, but it is part of a chain so you know what you are going to get. Having said that you can go very wrong with what you think will be a 'safe choice' Good service, attentive, but not over the top. Good food, well presented. All in all a, pleasent lunch.
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Stewart
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Lovely restuarant, great atmosphere but the food and service is awful. We went there on Saturday night to celebrate a friend's birthday. The waiter brought out our main meal while we were still eating our starter. Despite saying we were still eating, he kept asking for us to accept the dishes. We refused and asked for our food to be kept warm. After a wait of 45 minutes we asked where our food was. After a long delay the waiter informed us that our food had been thrown away and had to be recooked. Unfortunately, as my friend had ordered the last cannelloni, she had to make another selection. When the food finally came it was extremely disappointing. I had spaghetti marinara which had a couple of mussels and some clams shells (minus clams) and very little else. They still had the cheek to add on a huge service charge and a cover charge of £6. I've never written a review before but I really feel as though we were swindled in this place.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, February 03, 2008

I have taken clients and friends to, and been a guest at , Bertorellis in Mincing Lane on 5 seperate occasions in the last couple of years approx. The food is nice but the service is appallingly slow. Great if you're making an aftenoon of it but hopeless if you want to turn things around within 2 hrs. Every time I have been there I have had to devote time to trying to catch the waiting staffs' eye whether it be for next course orders/ more wine/ the bill etc. When prompted the reaction was less than apologetic and verged on surly. For all this I had to pay a £20 service charge last time around. Had I not been in front of clients I would have kicked up a fuss. Although it's lovely and convenient for the City I'm afraid I'd have to recommend giving it a miss.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Friday, October 26, 2007

Went in last saturday (06/10/07) to treat my girlfriend to a decent meal, what we ended up with was far from decent! We were seated promptly and drinks orders were taken quickly, however we had to wait 25 mins for our wine to appear (after having to catch someones attention to remind them of it).

We ordered our starter and main within about 10 mins which was fine, if a little too speedy. The only vegetarian main was off (for my girlfriend) so the waiter offered the rissotto of the day, which he then had too go and ask what it was, it turned out to be Dolce Late with radichio(?). We then waited about 30 mins for our starter and then a further 40mins for our mains, to be fair, when someone who appeared to be a manager realised we were still waiting, he offered us another 1/2 bottle of wine which he readily accepted!

What i couldnt understand was why we had to wait so long, we sat down at 9.15pm by which the main rush seemed to be over and most people were on their deserts, furthermore, other people who were seated after us received their starters and mains before we got our mains!

Anyway, being a reasonable chap, all of this could have been forgiven and be put down to them having an off night and maybe there being a mix-up with our order (it happens), however when our mains did turn up we were both so utterly dissatisfied with them I felt compelled to write this review and an accompanying letter to the restaurant itself. I ordered meatballs made to "mama's" secret recipe, apparently, although I can only imagine the recipe is a mystery to anyone who works in the kitchen given the sub-sainsburys pre-packaged dry nature of the meat pellets that arrived on my plate and the tinned spaghetti in a sugary tomato sauce that I would be ashamed to feed to my godson. As for the rissotto, whose consistency more closely resembled that of an unsuccessful rice pudding with a resoundingly nothingy flavour, didnt appear to bear any relation to what the waiter had advised us of. Oh and as for the 12,5% service charge, words fail me......
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Phil
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 08, 2007

My girlfriend and I thought we would pop in for some food on a Friday night to try out a new restaurant. We opted for the 'fine dining' experience of the proper restaurant upstairs.

The waiters were inattentive, but I've experienced worse, particularly considering that there was about 1 waiter per 2 tables. The atmosphere was staid and simple things like the tables being too small annoyed us. I asked for a bottle of wine from the wine list, a barolo, and was informed that they did not have any. Poor. I then asked the waiter for a recommendation, which he duely provided. I wish I hadn't it was awful. Surely if you only have 10 or so red wines on your wine list you ensure that they are all good - can't be that difficult to fine a nice bottle for £25.

The food: well I have to say that this was variable. To start I had a starter portion of pasta which was actually quite tasty and well cooked. My girlfriend had the risotto of the day (seasonal vegatables) which was obviously reheated in the microwave and just bland. Really bland. For main I had the Bertorelli signature dish of Lamb with fennel, olive and salsa which again was quite tasty but the lamb was a little overcooked - not bad though. My girlfriend again got the rough end of the stick: a corn-fed Chicken with asparagus, peppers and oregano salsa (i.e. some dried oregano sprinkled over the chicken - obviously some sort of joke). Again this was just a bland bit of chicken with a couple of bits of asparagus drapped over the top looking decidely sorry for themselves - not exactly 'fine dining'

All in all overpriced, decidely average service and no consistency in the quality of the food. My advice: don't bother.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Came here recently one sunny Friday for lunch with work colleagues and thoroughly enjoyed it. Service was very friendly and swift. I had home-made Italian sausage and mash, with a rocket salad. The sausage was a little gristly but very tasty, with a yummy sauce. A very satisfying meal, and good value (especially compared to their outlet in Soho where I find the portions just too small).

Our table was inside the restaurant, but the doors fold away so we had all the benefits of sitting on the pavement, without the hassle. One final thing I must say is that the chairs were refreshingly comfortable for restaurant furniture. Would definitely come back here again.
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zimboholly
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Thursday, August 16, 2007