Signor Zilli

We are members of a 'Dinner Club' and dined at Zilli's on the 16th May. Below is an extract of a complaint that I have sent in and still to date we have received no feedback whatsoever. We ourselves have requested this on at least 4 occasions.

"Prior to the evening I did on more than 2 occasions have to check that the information on our booking had been received and was in fact correct. On one occasion there was no record, on a second occasion the incorrect no of places had been reserved and during the evening I was even contacted by Zilli Fish asking if our party was going to be arriving that evening. I found this to be very frustrating as you can imagine.

As for the evening we were extremely upset that we had to wait nearly an hour from the time our last guest arrived for our starter, one of which was wrong. A further 45 minutes followed before we were served our main meal, one of which had to be returned due to an incorrect order. In between time we received no feedback on how long our meals would be or at least acknowledgement of the delay. Some of our guests having sat down at 8.30 were then rushing at 10.45pm with a main meal due to having to leave for public transport.

I cannot understand why we received such bad service in what is considered you signature restaurant. There were only 16 other diners in the restaurant and we were the last to be served. We had given sufficient notice that it was a large party and would have thought you would have been more prepared."

The upshot of it all is that we have never been so disappointed that we certainly wouldn't recommend eating here. The key question left is 'is this really a celebrity chef resturant?!
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Drew Toon
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, July 03, 2008

Zilli`s retaurant aboard THOMSON CELEBRATION. Having eaten in the restaurant aboard ship on two occasions during our stay, we can certainly recommend it. The food was amazing and the service second to none, the team are a credit to Aldo and he must be very pleased. One of the occasions was my 50th birthday and they made it very special. The chef Pablito even came to our table and joined the waiters in a chorus of "happy birthday" All this for a very small supplement of £15 per head, well worth it I say. The decor is light and airy and has an airy feel. The tables are set immaculately and the table linen is sparkling! will definitely pay another visit whenever we are aboard
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Sue Brown
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 23, 2008

Seven of us went to Signor Zillis this weekend to celebrate a special birthday. Thank you Aldo for making it extra special, especially when you had a celeb party going on next door.

All in all we had fabulous food, the staff were very attentitive and the atmosphere was just great!.

My only constructive comments would be:

I had thought the restaurant would have been a little bigger and have more room at our table we all felt hemmed in.

I thought the wine choice of Chardonay at £55 off the menu was a bit too steep. Not everyone is a celeb!

Also from a womans point of view going down the stairs to the toilets was awful and let your restaurant down - Women always think if the toilets are like that what is the kitchen like?

Again thank you we all had a wonderful time .
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

This was one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. We booked weeks in advance and called to confirm the booking the day before. When we arrived, not only were we made to wait in the doorway for 10 minutes, we were then put downstairs at clearly what was a table that had been hastily set up, with a christmas office party which was in full swing.

We were the only other customers downstairs apart from the party. Nevertheless, and as we had been looking forward to our meal, we ordered our starters and main courses.

When my starter arrived, the presentation was lacking. I had prawns and I wouldn't have served these in my home, let alone a prestigious restaurant. One of the heads of the prawns had detached , and had merely been placed by itself on my plate. Determined to carry on and have a nice meal, our main courses arrived. We had the lobster ravioli. I eat and cook pasta regularly, and am well aware pasta should be served al dente. The pasta was actually completely undercooked.

At this time, we were both so fed up of not being able to hear each other speak (the christmas party was very boisterous) we decided that we really had to leave. I have to say that this really upset me that we were treated in such a fashion. I have been to this restaurant in the past and had a lovely time.

I was made to feel like I didn't matter, and the poor waitress (there was only one waitress allocated to downstairs - probably as they had thought they would only been waiting on the christmas party) was absolutely rushed off her feet. She was very nice when we complained about our treatment, and understandably we were not asked to pay for the food we had eaten.

I obviously won't ever be dining at any of Zilli's restuarants ever again (I have been to Zilli Fish and the Bar/Grill) and the friend I was with will no longer be taking clients there to entertain.

This ruined a very lovely day - we had spent the day at The Sanctuary and this was supposed to round the day off.

I still cannot quite believe the way we were treated and am dumbfounded that they thought we would be happy to sit and have a meal in a room full of drunken party goers in the corner of the room next to the toilets.
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Stephanie Radford - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, January 11, 2008

I have used Signor Zilli regularly for years and have always had such a great time dining there,the perfect combo of relaxed yet kind of 'formal' and,in my opinion fantastic food! A few months ago things changed it seems... staff/food/atmosphere etc - and not for the best!

I am,however,glad to report that I wandered past the restaurant the other day to find Nino on the door just like the 'old' days!

A friend and I made the instant descision to have dinner there. It was sensational! The food was fabulous and the evening great fun! To the regulars of old who were dissapointed with Zilli's of late I would suggest that you give it another chance.

The prices have crept up a bit,I would hope that a return of the regulars may help them address this issue - they need to also bring back the set dinner etc. Let's hope Nino can do some magic!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, November 16, 2007

Really fantastic little Italian restaurant! Very glad to have discovered this place, the food was excellent, the service friendly and the atmosphere the perfect intimate, relaxed, cozy quality that is missing in many Italian restaurants in Central London.

I really don't know what the negative reviews on this site are talking about, as we didn't encounter even one of the criticisms suggested and to be honest I found these descriptions wholly inaccurate - first rate place, don't miss out!!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Saturday, October 27, 2007

What a terrible dining experience. Not so long ago this place had the most imaginative menu in the west end. Now it is like every other tourist trap in the area. A cheap laminated menu, surly staff and awful food.

Where is the wonderful scallop and spinach starter, the liver and bacon, the veal chop to die for.

A real shame that this place has gone this way as London loses a great dining room.
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Sarah
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Friday, October 19, 2007

I've been to this restaurant may times in the past and it's always been fantastic! Therefore I booked it for my husband 40th birthday. BUT, what a disappointment. For starters husband had tuna carparcio - it was tastless and a tiny amount. I had the squid wich was ok, but no better than you can get in a pub for a third of the price.

The main courses were good, but not exceptional. The only potato side order they serve is mash - we asked for some saute potoatos and they said they couldn't do them !!

Our bill for this and a bottle of very average wine was £99. In the past I was happy to pay this sort of price at Zillis as the food was always exceptional - we definately won't be going there again
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Monday, October 15, 2007

I've never written in with feedback on a site like this before, but I have to chime in to agree with Niall below, who wonders what on earth happened to this restaurant. I live nearby in Soho and have been going to Signor Zilli's regularly for years - my favourite Italian restaurant in London, until recently that is. Went in with friends a few nights ago, and the food was dreadful - even the house speciality "spaghetti lobster", which I order nearly all the time. The service was appalling (waited 40 minutes for prosecco (ultimately served warm) because they'd run out of it in the chiller, for example). The staff seems to have changed over, along with the menu and I assume the chef. All in all an unqualified disaster, and at what used to be one of the best places in town. . . Has Aldo sold this place off and let new owners run it into the ground, or what?
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, October 09, 2007

I went to this restaurant with a colleague of mine to have a late supper and I never come across a better italian restaurant in London.

We found the food amazing, we had the crab salad with mango and avocado which was out of this world and to follow I had beef tagliata which was superb.

What I really enjoyed obout this restaurant was the atmophere and the very professional and friendly service.

They really make you feel special and they treat you as you were a regular customer.

If you looking for a place to impres, definitly go there!

Ele

22 September 2007
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Eleonora
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, September 22, 2007