Mondragone

I ate dinner at this restaurant last night. Service was wonderful (as was the Montepulciano D'Abruzzo wine) and the food just "excellent" - and I am not one to flatter at any time. It you want an authentic taste of Italian food in a relaxed, friendly ambience, - at a reasonable cost - then visit 'Mondragone'.
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Sonia King
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 14, 2008

We thought we'd try this place because the tapas bar up the road was full. It looks like something you'd find on holiday, in some spanish beach resort, with plastic door and fake gold fittings. It was huge inside, though hardly anyone was there. The style was sort of modern/chav/bright/foreign. The waiter took our coats and we sat down at the table. We were shocked when we opened the menu - the prices were incredibly expensive! We talked about leaving, and looking for another place, but worked out that there really isn't much choice in Walthamsow, and then remembered that they'd taken our coats...

So we relaxed and decided to get on with it. I asked to try the wine before I had a glass, and they were fine about giving me a taste. It was reasonable, so I decided to get a glass. Strangely, the glasses were really small - 125ml, like they had in the 80s, which made the wine incredibly expensive at £4 a glass.

The pizza's arrived, and I'm sorry to say my calzone was bland, and obviously made from cheap ingredients. One friend ordered risotto, which was soggy and another friend order a fiorentina, which was passable.

I had tiramisu for desert, which was of normal standard, apart from the masses of drinking chocolate powder on it. Funnily enough the cappucino was excellent.

The service was good throughout, and the place would do well if they halved the prices, and used good quality ingredients. I don't recommend it, as it doesn't come near the standard of any normal pizza restaurant.
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John McDougle - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Monday, May 19, 2008