Little Italy

Me and my 4 friend went to Little Italy on Saturday night. A few of my friends recommended it and demanded I went. Once I was there I was by the bar with a drink in my hand with very friendly staff all around. When we sat down and ordered our food it wasn't long until we were presented with amazing tasting and beautifully presented food. After our 3 courses we danced the night away with great music lovely staff and atmosphere and overall just fab! At the end of the night whilst paying the bill I saw nothing wrong. When I came to write this review and saw what the others wrote I don't know what they were expecting you are in London and it was certainly not over priced considering the great experience I had. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good memorable night!
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 30, 2011

Went there last night and was so disgusted with the extortionate cost, poor service, bland food and week overpriced drinks. £45 a head for a set menu - which i would compare to poor wedding food.

Warm beers - when i complained i was told that was the temperature at which they have set the fridge. £10 for a whiskey and coke - couldn't even taste the alcohol. Service was slow and had to be reminded of what you had ordered 15 mins ago.

I'm sure they added more drinks to the bill than we had too. When i ordered drinks on the tab they never asked me or anyone else what table we were at and so it is all done via there excellent memory.

saving grace was the atmosphere.

i compare this place to a tacky greek taverna, however at a taverna at least you get good service, cold beers and a fair cost.

Avoid at all costs.
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Jez
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 16, 2011

short and sweet, well over priced,food not to the standard of the price, if you like being ripped off then this is your place, the waitress are not polite,the food is ok,nothing special for what they charge, bottle of wine is so expensive, went with girlfriend and had 2 veal escalopes,and spaghetti £96.00 ,bottle of wine £28.00 ,opt service charge £18.00,plus £3.00 cover charge lol lol ,in my view discusting and will not be going back, AND WOULD LIKE TO WARN OTHER PEOPLE THE PLACE IS A RIP OFF.,IF YOU DONT BELIEVE ME TRY IT YOURSELF. I WILL NOT BE RETURNING THERE.
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DINO
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, December 01, 2010

I phoned Little Italy about a month in advance to enquire about my friend's 30th bitrthday I said there would be 11 of us. I was told it would be £10 deposit and £36.50 for a standard a la carte menu. So I said my friend would phone back with the deposit, When my friend phoned she was told it would be £20 deposit and £35 for a christmas menu which was fine but should have sent alarm bells ringing then after both of us being told different information within a couple of days of each other.

When we arrived there was a menu waiting on the table ready for us but one of my friends noticed at the bottom of the menu it was priced at £46.50 as we were expecting it to be £35 I queried it. I couldn't understand the waiter very well so he sent over what I took for as the owner . The owner told me "the price is £36.50 and if I dont like it I can leave" I told him that my friend and I had obliviously been told the wrong information. He said "I must have spoke to a different restaurant"

When my friend's lamb shank turned up it was tough and hard to get off the bone.

At the end of the night another friend dealt with the bill she asked the waitress if the service charge was optional the waitres said yes. My friend asked for the service charge to be taken off the bill the waitress said "if you dont want it on there you take it off" although the waitress did take it off in the end and when she gave the bill back to my friend the waitress said "all we have done is moan"

Also when we got up to dance they halved our table cleared it and let a group of what i imagine was their friends sit there drinking champagne even tho other groups in the restaurant had there tables all night.

Also I gave them a birthday cake to bring out and had to ask for it back at the end of the night because they hadn't served it up.

Not once did they come over and ask if everything was ok with our meal.

On a good note they decorated the table nicely, after I phoned and said it was my friends birthday and the dessert was wonderful and we had a nice time dancing and chatting after our meal.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Monday, November 22, 2010

Let me keep this short, if you want to pay £20 for a main course which is bland and tasteless then this would be top of my list. If you want a place which issues a cover charge per head "for bread and butter" this is the place. If you like having the service charge of 12.5% added to your bill regardless of the service or quality of the food, this is your place. Fortunately for me I like some seasoning and flavour to my food, like not to be charged for stale bread and would like to gage what level of service charge I will leave, therefore I will not be eating here again.
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3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 02, 2010

We have been to Little Italy on a Saturday night, we got seats immediately, which was awkward as there were queues at the door of each restaurant around Leicester Square.

The menu seemed okay, but the lousy music and the waiters singing aloud spoiled the nice and cosy atmosphere. The staff was mediocre, unfriendly. We were "given" olives and bread and butter.

Of four meals, only one was rubbish: pasta were tasteless, chicken cold and there was actually water at the bottom of the plate.

We did not complain. A very annoying waiter came, and made dreadful jokes about where we are from. That killed every desire for a dessert, what's is the point of saying to us that people of our city are rude and arrogant?!

The bill came, with a "cover charge" of £1,5 per person. When we asked a waitress, she looked very embarassed and explained it was for the bread and butter. When we asked a second one, she scornfully told us it was written in the menu and added "do you think I am lying?"

Indeed, it's written at the bottom of the last page, under the address and phone number of the restaurant. We paid, left no tip at all, and won't ever came back.
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1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 31, 2010

The warning bells probably should have started ringing when we were able to get a table for four on a Saturday night within half an hour of arriving. Things started off badly and went rapidly downhill from there. We were taken down stairs to the basement where there seemed to be a riot in progress. The waitress tried to take us to our table to seat us but couldnt get through because we were situated between a stag party and a hen party. Once we were eventually seated things didnt improve. The noise was absolutely deafening and not only was it impossible to hear anything that was being said by our guests but it was almost impossible to order because of the din.

We eventually ordered and the starters turned up in reasonable time. They were fairly ordinary but very expensive for what they were. After some delay three of the four main courses turned up minus my wild mushroom tagliatelli which had obviously been forgotten. After all the main courses had been eaten and following apologies from the waitress my tagliatelli finally arrived. It was, ironically, very overcooked, as well as being tasteless and extremely late.

Not wishing to risk the dessert and keen to have a more peaceful evening we complained about the delay and asked for the bill.

The bill arrived and despite the complaint it included both a cover charge and a 12.5% service charge.

This restaurant should definitely be on the short list if you like being ripped off and are planning a rugby club party. Otherwise leave well alone.
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localfoodie
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, October 01, 2010

This review is truly rubbish, I too have been going to Little Italy for many years for a social drink, business & family entertainment, recently dancing with my new partner and now my third World Cup.

I love it, unfortunately I can't go a much as I would like due to distance in travel & not working in London. But I have always been made very welcome by the Management & staff - who I have been there for as many years as I have although they do have additional staff for the World Cup.

I am a great watcher of people I know for a fact the Management had there Family, Friends & long term Staff for lunch & no I am not one of them.
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Nico Del-Borrello
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, June 21, 2010

We were meeting some friends for lunch that we had not seen for several years and as they are experts on Italian Food looked through the web and came across Little Italy Restaurant

Suggesting that we meet in Soho brought back a few great memories of times gone by, coffees and chats in places like the Two Eyes and next door, not so well known Heaven and Hell , anyway walking up Old Compton Sreet we came to Frith Street and found "Little Italy " opposite another legend venue Ronnie Scotts

From the reviews It seemed that there were vast differances in the way people had reacted from there visit to the restaurant and felt a slight concern on how my friends would react

My fault but I had not booked and whilst the place was busy we were offered a table upstairs in what certainly appeared to be a recent refirbishment

What I thought was nice was that we were asked if we were going to the theatre and was we in a hurry, but we were not

I am not a expert on decor but found this to be of a very high standard and exceptionally comfortable and welcoming

OK. We all had an aperitif whilst looking through the menu and were given some ideas and help on the selection of starters and main courses in a very professional way, without being pushy or over powering we were all pretty undecided but finished up ordering four differant meals

Our friends were in doubt that they would get it correct so we would see

My buddy chose the wine which for us was an Italian white served superbly and without any pressure in trying to sell a second bottle albeit we did have some water as well

Whilst waiting we were talking about time gone by and asked if we would like one of the Chefs specials as a compliament from the patron

Do not get the impression that this was given to us to cover for any delay in the second course arriving, it was not just a little jester from them

The four differant main courses arrived totally correct, my friend was impressed, and served in a professional but charming way. We did decide to have another bottle of wine to give us more time to chat and reminisce

There was no pressure from any one we just felt so comfortable and contented

We were later asked if we would require a desert and as we could not make a decision ask if we could have a selection of fresh fruit with the plate placed in the middle for us to help ourselves Whether this triggered the Chel into overdrive creation wise we dont know, but we were served with the most creative and varied selection of fruit I have ever seen . We asked to see the Chef so that we could congratulate him personally

Our friends were now ready to make a move so after coffees and tea for me with Brandy and Benidictine for the men, ladies did not feel the need to we called for the bill

As some previous people have mentioned maybe the costs are a little bit more but my thoughts are that if the evening has been enjoyed by all with the company , service food and ambience of the highest level perhaps it is worth it

I purposely have not said the food that we had as I beleive that when going out to eat the choice should be your own, and if it is not to your liking say why, I would find it very strange for Italins not to corrrect it as they pried themselves on providing the very best

We look forward to going again in the not to distant future
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Tom Lattimore
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 01, 2010