Philpotts Mezzaluna

Awesome food,value and service...unbeatable in NW London...will certainly be back again
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Mitchell Orchant
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 15, 2006

Phillpots

It was a chilly night and I had a date at Phillpots, Golders Green (aka - middle of nowhere!) I walked from Hampstead village and had a warm welcome from one of the waitresses. She took my coat and numerous layers of warmth with amusement as I entered the somewhat "hushed" atmosphere. Get some music going in there guys! Liven the place up a little!

Good menu - seasonal and varied. Felt quite excited with the choice in front of me.........to start we were given a choice of warm homemade olive breads, with the welcome dip of olive oil in the center of the table. A little amuse bouche of warm asparagus soup served in a expresso cup........smooth and silky and couldn't resist dipping my bread into! My starter of grilled asparagus, parmasan, rocket and pine nuts in a balsamic dressing was faultless! Cooked al dente, the pine nuts toasted a nut brown. Delicious!

Next - Wild Seabass. Now you never quite know whether the seabass is really wild or your regular farm assured stuff you get wrapped up in those poyestyrine packages in the supermarkets. So I was a little sceptic as to whether this was going to "wow" me - like the starter I had just happily munched away at!

Ungortunately it was slightly overcooked - as I cut into the flesh it didn't dilicately slip from the bone as a good seabass should - instead it was tough to cut at times and lacked the flavour you get with the freshest fish. I asked for spinach with this which was done to perfection. Green beans and a delightful fondant potato were the fishes accompanments, brought together with a rich butter sauce......I was impressed with the way the chef gave each of his ingredients the attention they deserve - so many times you go to your local restaurants and they overdo the vegetables - they are warm and grey looking and never do they say "eat me". However Phillpots defiently has the passion. Petit Four came with coffees all round. There were 6 of us and I didn't hear one complaint - overall a very pleasant surprise!

The only "niggle" I would say - or advice was to teach the waitresses what was being served. On several occasions I overheard my table asking what was "calvero nero" and "stinko" of lamb meant?!
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Ashton Eats
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Sunday, January 08, 2006

The best local restuarant we have in North West London. The service could not be better- always a genuine welcome, fantastic food - freshly cooked with fresh ingredients and plenty of choice and excellent value for money.

They certainly know how to ensure that you have a thoroughly enjoyable evening whether for business or pleasure

Keep up the great work and lets tell others of North London's best kep secret.

Steve Harris 22/12/05
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steven harris
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 23, 2005

Not the best of experiences, I have to say that this is really not very Italian at all. infact no one in the place was italian except the wine waiter, the food was a bit odd too, as it seemed more British than Italian, I mean steak and Mash...very odd, smoked salmon? and chocolate tart? (and not much of it either).

I would really not recomend this place ..go to a real Italian restaurant if you want real Italian food, you would not go to an electrician to fix your bath taps would you?
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John Lumb
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Not Italian,not authentic, not worth it, not even tasty! obviously a place for the the person that has more money than taste buds

This place gives Italians a bad name
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Carlo Vera
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, December 12, 2005

I ate at this resturant last Saturday just gone, and have to say that the service was good, however I could not say the same for the meal, mainly because apart from the name hanging above the resturant there was nothing remotley Italian about either the resturant or more importantly the food. As far as the eating experiance was concerned I really wish I had not bothered, it was very disappointing, there was nothing that stood out and said try me, (this may as well have been Berts cafe, with some Posh thrown in to make it look good).

To sum this resturant up.

1. Food Passable but not good value or indeed pallet tingling.You can get the same from a lesser known resturant for far less money and a larger portion.

2. Restuarant not authentic, should not be called Italian as there was nothing on the menue that was Italian or even looked Italian, even the waitress;s were Russian or Slovak this was more French / British Fusion.cooking of sorts

3.Ingrediants were of a good quality but not really worth the price tag as portions are small, and not seasoned properly. ie The cesar rocket salad was actually a bag of rocket brought from Sainsburys which had a small amount of parmesan sprinkled over it!.(not very imaginative or Italian! In fact I was still so hungrey when I left, that I had to get a sandwich at the petrol station to get me home which I strangley enjoyed more than the actual meal.

To finalise:

Go there if you know nothing about Italian food.(because you will know even less when you leave)

Go there if you are not Hungrey

Go there If you are of a pretentious type, and does not really care about authenticity, taste or value.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, December 12, 2005