Sardo

I lunched at Sardo today and had a very good meal.

My companions and I had to skip starters for speeds sake, and I had the marinated then grilled lamb fillet, served with green beans and potatoes. Superb food, with three generous sized slices of filet, and having informed the waitress we were in a hurry the food arrived super quick. The beans were in some sort of dressing that had elements of artichoke in it, and complemented them very well. Fantastic all round, especially with the red wine from the same region as the restaurant.

Such was the haste with which we were bought our mains, we had enough time to squeeze in desserts, which were shared between the four of us. A cheese platter of Sardinian cheeses, it was one of the more unusual cheese sets I've had but delicious for it. A teaspoon of honey and a bunch of green grapes sat alongside a curious cream cheese, another very soft wedge, some delightfully crumbly pecorino-type thing, some other hard ones and generally a superb selection. My only criticism of the waitress was that she didn't inform us about the cheese varieties.

After cheese we also tucked into tiramisu - not the best I've had but not bad - and 3 scoops of assorted gelati served in an old-school wafer basket. In all a recommended meal at a reasonable price in an understated dining room.

Will definitely go again.
Comment on this reader review

Alex
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A poor experience here. Mediocre food was extremely overpriced and accompanied by indifferent (if not rude) staff. There are much better value establishments in this area – Sardo is clearly aimed at businessmen charging to the company card and Fitzrovia locals with more money than sense.
Comment on this reader review

anothermediamonkey - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Sunday, November 28, 2010

I thoroughly regret visiting this restaurant. It got off to a bad start when we arrived and the three waitresses stood behind the counter, stared blankly at us, and then went back to their conversation. We had no idea whether we were supposed to seat ourselves, or whether they were just rude / incompetent (it turned out to be the latter). When we were seated no one offered to take our coats, which would have been fine, except that when other diners were seated next to us, their coats were taken (clearly this civility is at the discretion of the staff on a case by case basis…)

We were given food menus, but no wine menu. After 15 minutes of being ignored by the staff we finally managed to get one of them to grace us with a wine menu. (A £25 bottle of Sardinian wine was the highlight of the whole experience).

Food was very overpriced including an extremely disappointing crab linguine at £15 which we had to comb through to identify the few tiny pieces of crab that were deemed sufficient enough to give the dish it’s name. The other orders were more acceptable, but everyone was in agreement that all dishes were poor for the money.

Usually we would order another bottle of wine over dessert and coffee, but the experience was so disappointing that we just wanted to leave. When we were given the bill (the fastest service of the whole night) we asked for the 12.5% service charge to be taken off because it was completely undeserved.

Frankly, I was so embarrassed that I had picked such a poor restaurant for the evening. I chose it on the basis of favourable reviews online including 5 stars in Time Out – I have to wonder if these critics visited the restaurant anonymously. If you want delicious Italian food with lovely staff, then I would highly recommend Da Mario’s in Covent Garden and, in particular in South London, the branch of Numero Uno at Tooting Bec.
Comment on this reader review

LMF - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, November 21, 2010

Went there on Friday night having been several times before and would agree with the general comments on here.

Food, in general, is fantastic. Very well cooked Sardinian dishes with pasta being particularly strong. Arguably one of the very best Italian restaurants in London in terms of quality of the food. All very well priced as well, putting local Italians to shame with crab linguine at £12 and trofi with mussel stock, prawns and langoustines at the same price. And quantities were absolutely fine for us! Not heaving great bowls of pasta but a good size, especially given how rich the food is. There are certain pricing anomalies (the porcini mushrooms were a pretty punch £9.50 as a starter) but broadly a meal for two with wine and desert will come in at under £100 which ain’t bad at all for the quality.

On the downside, as others have noted, is charging for bread and olives and not mentioning it until the bill. Not the world’s greatest inconvenience but rather penny-pinching especially when you’ve been thinking how nice the complimentary bread and olives are! Why not just ask people if they want them... unless you’re just trying to sneak it on to the bill.

And service still leaves something to be desired. Not rude or unfriendly at all just a bit ‘not bothered’ or professional. Little things like it’s really hard to get someone’s attention even though the room is quite small. Or pouring new wine to taste whilst you’re still drinking another wine. All just a bit sloppy really.

Will probably end up going back as the food is so good. But it’d be good if they could fix these other things in the meantime.
Comment on this reader review

Sam
8 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, September 20, 2010

After reading some of the previous reviews I was on my guard when I booked for Sardo last week (the HighburyGirl review was particularly helpful, informative and measured). And that's not a great way to start an evening. But my experience was quite different from that of your other reviewers. The initial greeting was fine (perhaps it was a different bloke) and the service was friendly and efficient, but also unrushed, throughout.

The food was a refreshing change from the sort of homogenous gloop that passes for Italian cuisine in a lot of central London places. Try the spaghetti botteriga with mullet roe and you'll see what I mean. One of us had liver. I hate liver, but even I was persuaded about this piece (we always share).

The portions were not huge, but the food was quite rich so they were certainly sufficient. I take the point about the bread and olives being smuggled onto the table and bill uninvited. But I'd been forewarned and decided to go with it anyway. I'm glad I did. The bread was fabulous.

As for the things that didn't quite work. Well, there was a rather sad piece of broccoli on the plate that was trying to keep the liver company. It had obviously had a bad day and didn't really want to be there. And the table was a bit cramped for the three of us. But these are relatively small points. They wouldn't stop us going back.
Comment on this reader review

Richard Marchant
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, September 05, 2010

Went here on the back of some rave reviews, in March 2010.

Good things: good quality food; pleasant lunch-time atmosphere; great wine.

Not so good things: the size of the portions was quite mean: we chose a starter of fresh anchovies. There were perhaps 4 on the plate. Yes, they were large anchovies, but anchovies are never that large, so 4 of them, at a price of around £9, was a bit much. As for my main – pasta with crab – it was tasty, but it was a bit of a Spot The Crab Meat scenario as again, there was only a tiny amount of it in the dish, flaked into miniscule bits. So this meanness actually spoilt our experience, overall. And I did think it was quite penny-pinching and a little cheeky to have olives on the table when we sat down, un-asked for, and bread brought to us, and then discover at payment time that we were actually being charged £3.50 for the bread and olives. Again, this is just mean. If you're going to charge for bread and olives, let the customer know in advance, so they can eat their fill/decide that they don't want them.

Also, the owner (I presume it was, an older man dressed smartly and supervising the waitresses) did not make any effort to engage with us. Whilst I don't expect to be treated like a long-lost cousin when I visit a restaurant for the first time, I do quite like the man/owner, who is actually serving me, to make a little bit of an effort. I can't actually recall if he even uttered more than the odd, cursory word whilst bringing or collecting our plates, I certainly didn't hear him deliver anything approaching a sentence! He was very detached, and came across as a little uninterested, therefore. My sister had to ask if her wine could be changed, as there was a bit of cork in it, which can of course happen anywhere. He changed it without arguing, but equally, without hardly uttering a word when doing so, no' Oops, sorry about that' or ‘Let me change that for you, sorry about that’.

The prices are reasonable, but be careful, as the wine can really up the price, as can the service charge. Our shared starter, two mains, two glasses of Prosecco and two glasses of wine, plus service, came to £73…£22 for the four glasses of booze, £8 for the service (I was on a birthday lunch for my sister and only afterwards realised that they'd automatically added 15% service!) and £3.50 for the bread and wine going some way towards this.

I wouldn't go back because of the overall mean spirit of the place and the ‘not bothered’ manner of the main man there.
Comment on this reader review

HighburyGirl - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Friday, March 19, 2010

Sardos Food and Service is very good. We enjoyed the stuffed squids and the Veal steak. It also does good quality puddings, or an unusual selection of sardinian cheeses, with the moorish sweet wine with a slightly burnt taste, Anghelu Ruju. It was empty at 6 but full at 8.30, on a wet Tuesday in November

But anyone who has visited their site and checked out their web wine list will get an awful shock when seated in the restaurant. £31 Rocca Rubia on the website is now £45. The £19 to £21 options are typically £29 to £32. The CS Santadi wines have largely gone.

We had a good Carignano del Sulcis at £29, and the Pound has devalued by about 28%, but this is sharp practice and the website should be taken down immediately by the owners.
Comment on this reader review

william
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I visited Sardo with a friend the other day for an easy-going lunch. The table was laid with bread and olives (which we didn't ask for but which were not unwelcome). The service was very good, the food good which was what we wanted, we didn't expect outstanding. In particular my companion praised the squid. The wine was sound, we could have a conversation in comfort without straining to hear each other, it was all very pleasant. I agree with other reviewers who have pointed out that the menu is pricey, but we enjoyed the meal as a whole.

Then the bill was presented, with a £3.00 charge for bread and olives, which surprised us. I decided not to raise it with them, not wanting to spoil the occasion, but I made sure the staff saw me examining the bill closely. I decided to pay and to write this review, which I will copy to the restaurant. It's time they began to understand that people take notice of reviews and so should they.

Next time I go, which is likely to be within the next few months, if they attempt to charge me for something I haven't ordered, I will (a) ask them to remove it from the bill, (b) report the fact here on this website, and (c) never go there again. Perhaps other visitors would report back here also. Quite what the management think they are achieving with this unjustifiable practice is beyond me, it must be counter-productive.
Comment on this reader review

Kevin - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Thursday, October 22, 2009