Sardo Canale

Regrettably I did not check previous reviews as I have eaten here in the past and been very satisfied. Arrived at 12,30 for the set lunch. main course served a little after 1.30. Only one other party in the restaurant and our main course were pasta with ragou and fish and spinach. We left without bothering with the pudding or coffee. Yes we were only charged for two of the three of us and two glasses of wine on the house. They were very apologetic about the delay and accepted that the cooking time for our main courses was under fifteen minutes. The food was ok, but rather salty.
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Anthony Stoll
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Sunday, November 02, 2008

great food, amazing special pastas.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Trouble in paradise. Arrived for dinner with 2 friends at 8pm - ordered food 8.30 - starter arrived at 930 and main just after 10pm ie 2 hours after we arrived. The owner kindly explained that this was a fine dining experience and not a fast food chain - something we were perhaps not familiar with. Only observation at this point was that all other diners had finished their meals and were outside smoking. He continued to explain that this was an entirely reasonable time frame given that we had only waited 23 minutes for our main course after finishing the starter! It seems perhaps you need to be a recognised diner in this fine dining establishment to get a meal without attitude. in a nutshell: poor management, average food, high prices.

Upon further enquiry the owner kindly pointed out that in Italy people are used to waiting this long for food. Well that's nice to know. I expect the food must be a lot better there then. Good luck during the current recession.
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GF Zola
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 03, 2008

Great setting, ok food, appalling service

We recently booked a table for 7 people for 8 pm. When our food eventually came (at 10:15pm) it was ok - some dishes very good and other mediocre. However the service was so bad it was comical - or would have been had we not been charged £300 for the privilege.

We began in the bar with a bottle of Prosecco (warm) - on serving by the waitress the cork exploded across the room narrowly missing one of our party and covering another and the floor with the equivalent of a glass of Prosecco - no apology or replacement bottle was offered. In retrospect this was an omen.

At our table we waited and waited to have our order taken - 25 minutes in all - no drink was offered in the meantime. Our order was eventually taken by possibly the most incompetent waiter in London - 20 minutes to take and then retake and recheck our order - 15 minutes later he came back to the table to double check our wine order - he had forgotten what we ordered. Another 15 minutes later the wine arrived. We waited a further 30 minutes for our food - in fact it only arrived after we complained to the manager who was somewhat ungracious to say the least !

Whilst the food was ok - the service got no better. My starter was spilled over me on serving, a beer was ordered but never delivered. Two of our party ordered rack of lamb - which when served were of such ludicrously differing sizes - one with six small cutlets - the other with two - we just laughed out loud !

The waiting staff had a dazed and bewildered look whenever they had to interact with each other or the customers - I can only imagine they had been drafted in on a Sardinian work opportunity programme - certainly they had no concept of customer service.

We didn't pay the "optional" service charge that was added to the bill and we won't be back unless it is with a TV crew to film a new series of "Kitchen Nightmares"!
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bonviveur
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Saturday, March 01, 2008

Perfect.

Great bread, great olive oil, and reasonable olives.

Very unique mineral water.

Great wines at very reasonable prices.

Carpaccio was the best I've ever had in London.

Linguini with crab, faultless.

Veal second plate, perfect.

A truly outstanding restaurant, and the service was perfect too.

Plus, the terrace is lovely for a cigar.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Went there for the first time last friday. Loved the surroundings and the food did not disappoint. A special thanks to Roberto the manager for accommodating us on a very busy evening. Will be back.
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Dani
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 24, 2008

We have eaten at Sardo Canale a few times. In general we have found the service slow and the food ok if a little uninspiring – the menu seems to have stayed the same ever since the restaurant opened. We only returned this evening because the friends we were meeting had not been to the restaurant for a long time and were keen to go again.

We had booked a table at 9pm but arrived slightly early at 8.50pm. We were asked to sit at the bar whilst we waited for our table. At 9.10pm we asked if someone could take our coats but were, bizarrely, told that the coats could not be taken until a table was allocated because the system would not allow it! At 9.20pm we asked where our table was and were told that it was about to be vacated - the previous diners were paying the bill. We were told the same at 9.25pm, 9.30pm, 9.35pm and 9.40pm. Eventually we were seated at 9.45pm after we made clear that it was not satisfactory for us to be waiting 45 minutes for our table. Extraordinarily the manager took exception to us complaining and said that he did not want to serve us – we should have been more patient!

Our experience was very similar to the experience of a number of other reviewers. The restaurant displayed extraordinary arrogance and a complete lack of interest in the experience of their customers. We will not be returning.
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David
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Sunday, November 04, 2007

First time at Sardo Canale. Really nice food and fantastic atmosphere. Will be back soon
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I have dined at Sardo Canale on a number of occasions and whilst I can't really call myself a 'regular', it has been on my list of favourite Italian Restaurants in North London since it first opened a few years ago.

An unfortunate experience last night, however, means that I shall probably never return. In a nutshell, my dining partner and I sat in the bar at the end of the evening awaiting our taxi. When it arrived, I politely beckoned the Maitre d'Hotel (Nicky?) to bring us the bill. As he handed it to me, he came out with the utterly impertinent and unnecessary comment "one should always be patient in life"!

What a pretenious, arrogant and jumped-up idiot he is! Having just spent £100.00 on dinner for two I feel I had every right to be 'impatient' although I hardly feel that I was. I now regret that I paid the service charge, and should probably have made a scene and put him in his place. You have just lost a loyal customer!

To other readers - give this place a wide berth and instead go to the fabulous Cleveland KItchen, 145 Cleveland Street W1 (Tel 7387 5966) - an excellant small Italian restaurant in Fitzrovia. (see the excellant reviews on this site)
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Stephen Fletcher
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Thursday, May 31, 2007

The service at Sardo Canale has never been great, and the food has more than made up for it on other occasions. But our most recent visit was a thorough disappointment.

Our starters were apparently forgotten about and so we had to wait almost an hour for them. The excellent selection of breads and olives kept us going in the meantime. When the Talleri di pesce finally arrived, it was delicious; a platter including cured tuna, swordfish carpaccio and anchovies.

Our mains were adequate, but unremarkable; Linguine al granchio and Malloreddus alla campidanese. The vegetables were delivered to the table next to us. When we finally got them, the spinach was dry and unappetising and there was only one asparagus spear, perhaps the dish had already been picked over by our neighbouring diners.

An "optional" 12.5% service charge was added to our bill, which considering the mistakes made, was more than a bit cheeky. We politely asked to not pay the 12.5% extra, and instead of just taking our payment, the waitress caused embarrassment and fuss.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, April 18, 2007