Canta Napoli (Chiswick)

Just celebrated my birthday last night in Canta Napoli and what can I say is the following:

1. It is a modern small restaurant with an open-plan kitchen (so you can see some pizzas flying around!) but it gets so packed that you need to book in advance. The fact that it was all full is a good sign. When we left, we went past the other restaurant we used to go but it was much emptier as their prices have gone up.

2. Prices are reasonable for the quality they offer. The mussels tasted great in a tomato sauce and I was in heaven with the steak. I am very fussy about steaks, so I was very, very impressed with how it was cooked, how tender it was and the price. I tasted the spaghetti with clams as well and they were very nice.

3. The wine we chose was Primitivo as we have a friend in Puglia who always recommended it and the taste and the price was very good. Wine is starting to be a luxury in some places!

4. The waiter was polite and the wait to be served was reasonable.

And now to me the most important was the service of the manager/person in charge:

1. He had confirmed my booking

2. He informed me that they did not have Buffalo steak but that they could cook a steak any way I wanted. It was my birthday and I just wanted a steak, so you can imagine how grateful I was that I got one.

3. As he knew that it was my birthday he served the dessert with a candle. Definitely he looks after his customers.

4. The chef in my group asked him if he could bring students during lunch time to see how a pizza is cooked and he said yes and that students could play with a bit of dough! How generous is that?

Conclusion: great food, great service, polite manager/person in charge and I am definitely coming back not only every birthday but also before as the four of us were very happy with the food and the service!
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Ivonne
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, March 02, 2013

Lived in Chiswick for years, but had never eaten at the restaurants on Devonshire Road. Decided to try something new, so my boyfriend and I went to Canta Napoli.

It is now our "local." Fresh ingredients, the focaccia is to die for, pizzas and pasta totally authentic (we also have a place in Tuscany, so we know "real" Italian when we taste it). We now eat there at least once a week and come away charmed each time. Yes, service can be a bit slow, but the atmosphere, food, and prices more than make up for it. It just feels like we're in a little Tuscan trattoria, and we love it.
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Victoria27
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, September 09, 2012

Pleasant welcome and a decent table. The waiter was worked off his feet and the place was understaffed but he did his best. He cam to take our order but broke off and returned a minute later after he had seated someone else. The wine was decently priced and good. Value for money. The starters were ok (mussels, bruschetta, palma ham and buffalo mozarella). The main courses were less impressive. The two pasta dishes were of decent size but lukewarm, long on pasta and less long on sauce/meat. The steak cam exactly as specified but the accompanying mushrooms were dowsed in a huge amount of oil and the piece of meat was not very good and contained gristle. When both these things were mentioned to the waiter he took them to the chef, came back and said nothing about the meat but how we could have less grease if we specified this next time. I'm afraid there won't be a next time. If the food had been better this would have been good value for money.
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Jeremy - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, May 08, 2012

After reading some positive reviews on this website about the Chiswick restaurant of Canta Napoli, we decided to go for a pre-theatre meal here and ended up being hugely disappointed.

Clearly understaffed and largely incompetent, this is a poorly run restaurant.

Having to wait a long period before ordering and another long period to receive our starters (about 45 minutes) the disappointment really began. The slow cooked squid had the consistency of rubber! When asked what the starter was like by the lone waiter, we said it was too chewy but didn't receive a satisfactory response. It was noted that when the waiter took our plates back to the kitchen and spoke to one of the chefs, his response was loud and visible laughter.

During our time here, we noticed a pretty miserable vibe amongst the diners including a gentleman expressing disatisfaction with the wine and food. Also, the chefs lacked good hygiene clearing used plates and preparing food at the same time.

The main courses were well below average and we couldn't wait to leave. We have been enjoying Italian food for about 20 years and we think this is the worst Italian restaurant we have ever been to (in England).
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F&N
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Sunday, September 04, 2011

this place is a hidden gem, the food is as good as it gets and its very good value for money (the wine is excellent value Pizza Express please take note)

the meatballs are amazing !

each one has its own feel and atmosphere, would be wonderful if we had one of these in rickmansworth rather the cafe uno wannabes we have (and i avoid)
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don moore
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 28, 2011

Reviewed this place last year. Just an update.

Still top quality food at very reasonable price.

Pizzas amongst the best I've tasted. Brilliant dough. Had a little starter this time. Tuna Carpaccio. Excellent.

If you can put up with the extremely patchy service (it's not rude, just a little unprofessional. You get the impression that they hire the daughters of their friends who are doing a gap year or something) then you're in for a treat.
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benjamin163 - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Saturday, May 14, 2011

This is a small and cosiest restaurant in the whole of Chiswick. The place is family run and provides the most authentic Italian i have ever tasted in London. Rumour has it, that their mozzarella is flown in every other day and you can really see it, particularly on their pizzas, as it is a real and true and one and only Fior Di Latte! We go there quite often, so it is difficult to choose the dishes that i would like to recommend. But, my favourite is - Paccheri Alla Partenotea, my three year old daughter will die for Mellenzane alla Parmiggiana, my husbands favourite is Buffalo Fillet Steak. Also, one thing about their bread - it is NOT over salted, which seems to be a cheap=p trick a lot of Italian restaurants use ... So for me as a mum with 2 small children this restaurant is a piece of haven which believe me is not an easy find.
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Victoria
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 10, 2011