Osteria dell'Arancio

I can't recommend this place enough!! We got married at Chelsea Town Hall and had a big family lunch here. The service was absolutely incredible without being intrusive. Our host Tommy was amazing and ensured we had the most wonderful time. We were there for almost 5 hours and the food was delicious, the wine recommendations were excellent and matched the food perfectly. The atmosphere and decor is welcoming, relaxed and very light. Don't hesitate in booking just go, eat, drink and enjoy.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 24, 2011

I love going to this restaurant. It has a great atmosphere and really friendly staff. It's a bit like stepping into Italy. The food is almost always great with some really well sourced ingredients. Great mozzarella, burrata and prosciuttos. Last time I had a home cured carne salata with a fennel salad which was a special for the day. Then I had monkfish with pancetta and a sauce vierge. All delicious, good sized portions and not too heavy. The sommelier is excellent too and we had a couple of glasses each, all different to go with what we were eating. Highly recomended, but quite popular and best to book...
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

All I can say is - shocking. I am still angry about this meal, nearly 24 hours after eating at this restaurant. It was easily the worst meal I've had in London.

I suppose this place stays open due to its location in Chelsea, though somehow it seems draw an international crowd, perhaps tourists. It amazes me that Italians eating at this restaurant don't run out screaming in horror at the stunning way in which this establishment has corrupted their beautiful food. Though, it is possible that one might be given a different menu and/or food with proper ingredients if one is Italian - we were asked when we taken to our table and as we had to answer negative to the question after the meal we were left wondering whether we should've tried to lie.

It all started out ok with two glasses of prosecco being delivered to our table. It was downhill from that point forward. Waitress came round to tell us about the 'specials of the day.' Bortotti bean soup sounded nice on a chilly evening and I was drawn to the burrata with warm cherry tomatoes. Both my boyfriend and I were craving pasta and though the combination of tagliatelle in a spicy sausage and tomatos sauce with goats cheese sounded a little odd we decided to give it a go along with a risotto with sausage and saffron. After our order was taken we were then brought a few slices of what turned out to be stale bread - no olive oil or butter to try to redeem it. Starters arrived and to our surprise, the special was not borlotti bean soup but rather chickpeas in a (split) beef broth. It was terrible - completely bland and an embarrassment at £9.00. No salt on the table and no pepper offered. The burrata certainly didn't taste like the lovely creamy cheese that I know and love and it too suffered from underseasoning. Oh dear. Well, there's always the mains to save the day.

Sadly, there was no saving this meal. The tagliatelle dish was inedible and the risotto was undercooked and tasteless. We did complain about the misrepresented soup starter and this was taken off of our bill, but of course, we were charged for the stale bread which we didn't even order. Thank god the service was terrible and they never even offered us a wine list as I would've been even more angry had we paid over £100 for such a disgraceful meal. As it stood, I had to take a deep breath when we gave our card to be swiped for £68.

Perhaps if we would have tried to play that we were Italian, the meal would've been different - there was an Italian tourist couple sitting next to us who didn't seem the least bothered by their meal. Therefore, unless you are Italian or you enjoyed being ripped off for terrible tasting food, I would recommend steering well clear of this restaurant.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, April 24, 2010

I was here recently with my boyfriend - we fancied treating ourselves, knowing that, even though we'd never heard of the restaurant before, it would probably be quite pricey - we weren't wrong! But luckily it was delicious and a wonderful experience so we didn't mind spending the money. I had the most divine squid followed by a meaty pasta dish, which I forget the name of, but was delicious. The staff were so friendly and attentive and one waiter even chose our wine for us which went perfectly with the meal.
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Lisa G
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, September 09, 2009

This used to be a good, authentic Italian with a good value for money menu. Unfortunately the owners now decided to now change the menu completely.

The classics such as Tagliata di manzo and veal escalope have disappeared. The food is not proper Italian style anymore, quality is average at best and portions are far too small for my taste.

Management should revert to the old winning formula of simple italian food, served in a pleasant setting for decent prices...
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3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Truely bad meal.

The fish I order was not properly cooked, I sent it back and it was still awful. The service was overall friendly, and when they offered us deserts we felt this was a compensation for messing up the meal, not the case, as they ended up charging us for these - too angry to make a fuss, I paid and left in a hurry. Overall, a very unprofessional place.
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Sam
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Thursday, March 19, 2009

Nice Restaurant, very good and authentic Italian food, and friendly and efficient staff.

We were there 2 months ago and we had a nice table by the window.

The problem was that the light bulb over the table was flashing all the time , not to mention the total lack of music both of which we found very annoying.

We came back after two months and we were very surprised to find out that the light had not been fixed yet and for the second time the music was still off.

We talked to the manager and he told us that the problem had arisen that same day: we felt very disappointed and deceived.
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Maria and Xavier Vianco
6 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 6
Sunday, February 22, 2009