Via Condotti

Bad bad bad bad

Did not enjoy it one bit. Food was awful. We had 4 courses and each one was tasteless. I had the spaghetti with pork sauce for primi and it honestly looked as if it had been slapped on the plate with a large chunk of cheese on top - not indifferent to how I serve my pasta at home. I can't even recall what I had for secondi (yes, ti was that immemorable), and the dessert tasted stale. To top it all off the waitress flooded my champagne glass when she was serving and walked off leaving most of my side of the table (not to mention the glass) drenched. At the end of the evening I was so disappointed I felt I had been slapped by a smelly wet fish. And paid for the privilege.
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DJ
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Great service, great atmosphere, good value for money yet the food was a disappointment given then quality of reviews.

We had a selection of seven dishes and each one was barely of average quality. Example-The beef with polenta had stretchy meat with unflavoursome grain. The sauce in the starter of aubergine tomato and mozzarella matched the sauce that accompanied veal.

The redeeming feature was the quality of service and ambience. GIve it a try, maybe I had a bad night.
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Fleur Fernando
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Thursday, February 01, 2007

Friday lunch: busy, and service was erratic (only 2 menus for 4 people, very slow in taking drink order), with waiters and waitresses walking past our table and taking no interest. Food was good, but not particularly memorable. Veal was not available (at 1.30) which was a pity as two of the four wanted it. A jug of water came, but only after ordering it twice. Wine overpriced (but it is everywhere, I suppose) Bill of £180 for 4 too much for what we received. Coffee was outstandingly good, though, and the service had improved considerably by that time. So it should.
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sailor - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Monday, January 29, 2007

Faultless service and a friendly atmosphere is the hallmark of the place. We were 30 mins late for a party of 8, at 10.30pm, but still nothing was too much trouble. Food centred on top end ingredients, prepared in an unfussy way by people who clearly know what they're doing. A real delight.
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Tony Little - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, January 08, 2007

Given the raving reviews I went to this restaurant well-disposed and with great expectations. I must have hit a bad night because I was slightly disappointed. We had to wait more than 30 minutes to order (and the waitress came only after a fair amount of waving). The tables are not well spaced and the room felt noisy and smoky. However when they came the staff were friendly and unfussy.

My pasta (made with chestnusts in a wild boar ragout) was good, well conceived and well-executed, but (aaargh) the plate was cold (given the situation, we thought it better not to ask for it to be changed). The main course of venison was a simple dish, one of those which can be a stunner for the quality of the ingredients and for the perfection of the execution. It was not (due to the meat itself rather than to the excellent reduction). The two very small pieces of venison looked at me sadly from the plate and gave me neither special pleasure nor special displeasure.

I really liked the desert list, with rare (for london) regional dishes even from the deep north of Italy (such as bunet from Piedmont), as far away from the chef's region as one can go without trespassing into France. However I opted for a more southern baba', which was very good, just rightly moist and rhum flavoured.

For London, 24.50 for a three-course menu, in this location and at this level of cooking, is an excellent price, less than the price of a single course at other ludicrously priced Italian restaurants (though they make up for it a little with the wine list and with portions which are just this side of the ridiculous). This is another well-conceived Claudio Pulze operation, clearly successful judging from the buzz on a Monday night. Not the best value in town, however, in my opinion and to my tatste (for comparison, Latium in Berners street is only a tad more expensive but in a different class). I may be going back for a second try.
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m
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Via Condotti is wonderful. The staff are attentive and professional, giving you enough time to decide on drinks and what to eat. The atmosphere is cosy but airy at the same time. The lighting was just right! Importantly the food is excellent and best of all the menu seems to reflects what is in season. Which is really refreshing to see and on top of that environmentally responsible. Also where in Mayfair can you get this kind of experience for £24.50 for 3 courses. I loved it!
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Victoria Thoms
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Home away from home for me (I used to live near Via Condotti--the one in Rome), this little gem of a restaurant. I liked the regional accent of the food (Campania), impeccably prepared with simplicity, well-sourced ingrediaents and balance. Excellent ravioli with the smoky flavour of the scamorza filling that pleasantly startles you. The coniglio alla cacciatora reminded me that wild mushrooms and fresho tomato sauce can go together--and how nicely. A very napoletano sorbetto, followed by a real Neapolitan espresso to cap it all. The service was friendly, professional, unpretentious and attentive. I came out happy and relaxed and by no means impovrished. A big "thank you" to my wife, Ann, who discovered it.

Antonio Incisa

London
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Abtonio Incisa
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, September 08, 2006

I stumbled upon this place quite by chance and had one of the best meals of my life. This is no mean achievement especially as I'm Greek and my mum is a superb cook. The octopus carpaccio was tender and flavoursome, the rabbit was as good as my grandma's (she used to rear them in the back yard) and the bread was heavenly.

What's more it didn't feel pretentious at all. The staff were warm and welcoming but not intrusive. I will definitely be coming back. Next time I'll leave room for dessert too!
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Smarayda Christoforou
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, September 08, 2006

We went to Via Condotti last Friday - the 25th August and had an excellent time.

I would warn you however, that your chosen dining companion ought to be of sufficient interest that you are not dependent on the atmosphere of the restaurant or eavesdropping on neighbouring tables!

The service was attentive, but not intrusive; although there appeared to be something of an imbalance of too many waiters to customers - that said, the restaurant opened, I believe, in August and it will take a littl time to build the clientelle with so many other well established restaurants in the vicinity.

We opted for two primo piatti, I had the Tortelli with goats cheese and hazlenut filling with a pesto dressing. The tortelli tasted slightly bland but was the basic but interesting mix of the bite to the hazlenuts with the smoothness of the goats cheese were interesting and were certainly not unpleasant. I would highly recommend the carpaccio of beef, which was exceptional. The celeriac adds nothing to this dish - but as it is not lacking in anything, nothing added is required!

The lamb was fabulous, cooked exactly as requested. The cut was buttery and unresistant to the knife. There was no need for potatoes as the accompanying onions were more than sufficient.

The wine list is c. 3pages and varies from £17-£220odd bottles. A number of the wines are served by the glass and there is a limited selection of half bottles available.

The bar is also fully stocked.

I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone that is capable of creating their own atmosphere..the music playing is at a good, unobtrusive level and when the lights are dimmed, the restaurant warms and relaxes...but you would still want to be with someone relatively interesting.

There is still a slight smell of new-ness, of freshly laid floors and decorated walls, but not enough to challenge one's palate.

Expect a new restaurant, accept that it has not yet had time to adopt a regular clientele and do not judge it the worse for this. They know what they're doing and they get it right.
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Helen Probert
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

It is the perfect restaurant for those who love italian cuisine. The Tuna salad is absolutly delicious and the fresh made pasta are just perfect. The staff was really friendly and helpfull by giving us a lot of information on the origin of the products and the dishes we have been eating. I will definitly go back.
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Elise
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 23, 2006