Cantina del Ponte

My wife and I booked this restaurant recently on the recommendation of a friend. I read some of these reviews before going and I was slightly nervous. Having been there now I can only wonder if we were in the same restaurant as some of these reviewers.

It was probably the best Italian meal I've eaten in years. Cantina over looks London Bridge and the river side location does alot to create a lively atmosphere.

I had poached salmon wrapped in courgette to start and my wife had duck. The salmon was succulent and flavoursome and the duck likewise. For our mains we both had the beef brisket which was a special. To my mind it takes a brave chef to cook the so called "cheaper" cuts of meat but this was packed full of flavour. A memorable dish indeed.

The desserts was something I would have expected to see in a spot alot "posher" than this. Stawberry semifreddo with pistachio ice-cream. yummy! I forget what wine we drank but I do remember it being sicilian and very nice.

Unlike other reviewers, I have no real criticisms of Cantina. I think there is undeniable talent in the kitchen here.
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Len Yalgar
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

RIP the cantina- i used to love the cantina. The polite professional head waiter and section leader in pressed suits charming with adults and children alike, the lower ranking staff efficient, smart. taking service seriously and with an apparent sense of pride. I recall home made taramaslata , excellent pasta dishes, seared squid with chlii, a tomato pannacotta type thing that wobbled ,rich and sweet , lovely rosemary foccacia, good slow cooked meat dishes and quickies like liver. It was as if the chefs you looked in from the alley at the back buzzed with that ancient pride , love, slightly odd (to some of us) complusion to make some simple ingtredients delight our senses

Now you might as well go to all bar one , or ask or any of those dire chains where some how chefs are sedated or not trained or unlead. there was no love in or honour in the food or service
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ferg
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Monday, May 19, 2008

I stopped at Cantina del Ponte on a Saturday, on my way to the Design hotel. The decor was appealing, modern but warm, and outside it was raining, so I decided to sit at the bar for a quick bite. I just ordered a pizza, that they advertised as freshly prepared "in the restaurant's open pizza oven". I know that you cannot judge an entire restaurant from one course, but this pizza (prepared in a quite sad gas oven that wants to look like a wood oven) was really terrible. Chewy and tasteless. Almost inedible. Nothing even close to a good, freshly prepared Italian pizza. What a shame!
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GioP - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Took advantage of their special offer of 2 courses for £10. Service was ok but the food was terrible.

My soup with beans and winter vegetables was all beans and virtually no soup. My meatballs and spaghetti was all pasta with just 2 meatballs delicately balanced on top of a huge pile of spaghetti. When I complained, I was told that that was all I would get for ordering off the set menu.

I asked to speak to the manager but he refused to speak to me at all. He followed the waitress back to my table, instructed her to remove my dinner and then stalked off!

My meal came back with an additional 2 meatballs but the whole thing was swimming in grease. It was disgusting

Suffice to say, I won't be going back there in a hurry
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I went to Cantina on a Friday evening about 8.30pm with my fiance and parents. I had booked it the night before so they knew we were coming. On arrival I said I had booked an outside river view table- they new nothing of it, however, did seat us at one.

That was about the only thing they got right all night. The drinks arrived piecemeal, 15 mins late. Ordering was a hassle, starters took half an hour and didn't arrive correctly and the main was a shambles.

I complained to the manager who did speed up service a bit but the night was ruined. The bill arrived including service and I nearly choked...we asked the waitress to remove it and she hardly batted an eyelid.

In short I wish I had complained further, i still feel robbed for paying £70 for five people. I think the place needs a complete overhaul of staff as the service was terrible and food mediocre.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I had lunch there with my boyfriend few weeks ago on a sunday and were both really disappointed. I guess it is ok if you take the fixed price menu which we were not offered in the first place so we ordered a la carte.

The a la carte options are quite expensive and the portions are tiny. My boyfriend had the grilled veggies to start and a pizza and I had the sinach and ricotta raviolis. the veggies and pizza were good (although a bit small) but the raviolis were really disappointing: I literally had four raviolis swimming in a a whole packet of melted butter (although butter was not mentionned on the menu). I complained nicely to the waiter who was nice but I guess, used to be complained to...Otherwise, the view is of course unbeatable, the service is good (although a bit pretentious compared to the food..) I don't think we'll return
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caroline - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Friday, September 07, 2007

Very disappointing. The only thing to recommend this place is the location. The service is slow beyond belief and the food is very average: no better than you could cook at home. With so many great places to eat in London this one doesn't deserve a second visit (or even a first!).
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JC
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Friday, September 07, 2007

My Wife & I ate here a couple of weeks ago on our Wedding Anniversary. Having read the reviews after already booked the restaurant, I wondered if I had made a terrible mistake. We booked a Saturday evening at 8pm. The place was already very crowded when we arrived and it took about 15 minutes for a waitress to bring menus and take drinks orders. This was the only complaint we had all evening. After ordering, the food arrived promptly. We both had cold starters - roasted mediterranean vegetables and a crab salad. Both very simple but fresh and delicious. The main course was fresh fish (Sea Bass, I think) in a pastry parcel and calves liver - which was hot and superb. The desserts were also excellent. We had a bottle of house white which was also very good. The meal was quite expensive, but for London prices - with outstanding views of the river, was actually pretty good value. The restaurant clientele were casually dressed and the atmosphere was loud and slightly chaotic with staff rushing around. If you want a quiet romantic meal go somewhere else. If you want a fun and busy environment for a meal with friends then I would recommend it. We thought it was excellent.
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Robert Burns-Green
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, August 20, 2007

This is an awful restaurant. Even MacDonalds is better. I visited this place for my mother-in-law's birthday. The food was terrible - I ordered mozerella salad for my starter which consisted of a ball of mozerella straight out the bag - not cut or anything - with a quarter of a cherry tomato. The main wasn't much better - over cooked pork chops with bullet roast potatoes and no vegetables. Our waitress was very pleasant but with an air of being fed up of people making complaints. The spot is lovely, but there are lots of restaurants along that stretch of the river. I highly recommend you try one of the others.
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Karen
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, August 08, 2007

I have to agree with the other reviewers that the service in this restaurant is appauling - so much so that I decided to complain to them in writing.

I have to say our table waiter was very nice and apologetic but no one else seemed to care!

Food was good - but average and sadly not worth the 45 minute wait which with two young children is not good news- I chose the restaurant because it was supposedly child friendly - sadly this wasn't the case
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Sara Khoja
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Monday, July 16, 2007