Zilli Fish

We all meet regularly for lunch in London and eagerly awaited our booking at Zilli Fish on Brewer Street. We were pretty disappointed and this is why. It`s scruffy, furniture worn, table way too small, atmosphere non existent, menus dog eared, starters ok but with visual impact on par with that of a little chef. Others had monk fish mains which they enjoyed, my assorted roast fish dish was plain, boring and uninspired. So far not so good. Service was

from those who are just going through the motions with several mistakes and an unacceptable wait for the bill, bearing in mind the place was half full. Finally on exit and requesting coats a waiter became really quite rude. We all agreed we would never ever return.
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Anna Fuller
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

If you are going to serve simple,plain fish i has to be very fresh, of the best quality and simply prepared. My oysters were tasteless (apart from the over-salted brine they were served in) and my swordfish was NOT FRESH. When I complained to the waiter he was neither surprised nor concerned. The restaurant is also cramped and unpleasant and very expensive, and the toilets were filthy. I've had better fish in my local chippy and for a lot less than £70 per head. Avoid.
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Martin Farncombe
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, April 24, 2008

We went to Zilli Fish last night for a special birthday meal. It was a real mixture. The fish and seafood we had, both for starters and mains, was fabulous. The flavours were good and the portions were fine. The problem was that they didn't have items that were on the menu, both food and wine (not from the specials menu which can obviously run out). This was unacceptable for an establishment such as this. Also, the chips that came with our meals (thin chips with one, fat chips with another) were the worst I have seen in a long time. They were soggy! Basically they had used the wrong kind of potato. The service in general was dire. We waited an age for any attention, and only received appropriate service when we sent the chips back. All in all, the meal was overpriced, the service bad, and the chips worse than Mc Donalds.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Sunday, April 13, 2008

I went here with 2 friends for a luncthime birthday treat (friday april 11th 2008). We hadn't booked a table, this wasn't a problem and we were seated quite quickly. First impressions were good as it seemed lively and plenty of staff were milling around. We ordered a seafood platter for the 3 of us and it consisted of a big bowl of mussels and clams, calamari and 4 large king prawns, these were all ok. While we waited for our starter we were given a selection of breads and a salsa dip which was really really tasty.

For main course 2 of us ordered mixed fish with a herb crust and the other ordered swordfish on a caesar salad. The swordfish was excellent. The mixed fish was good but it wasn't a herb crust it was a dollop of pesto on each bit of fish, while the fish was excellent and plentiful my friend does not really like pesto as she does not like basil so she was slightly disappointed. This really should be clarified on the menu. We had one side order of homemade chips and quite honestly these were inedible. They were very large with some of them tasting uncooked and incredibly oily, they immediately sat heavy in your stomach so remained uneaten. I was so glad I hadn't gone with my first choice of cod and chips.

We ordered a bottle of house champagne as a birthday treat and the waiters attentively kept our glasses topped up. Staff were all polite and seemed friendly enough alhough you sometimes get the idea you were being spoken about as they would congregate and stare while talking it felt a little weird sometimes. As we left a few words of banter and sniggering between staff left us slighly uneasy as they helped us with our coats.

The toilets leave something to be desired. A restaurant that sings its own praises like this one (aldo selling his books by the tills and posters for his masterclasses everywhere, feels like a bit of a plug non stop) really needs to sort this out. Very dingy, only 2 ladies loo's, alot of mosaic tiles missing from the walls, toilet paper everywhere etc. The 2 hot taps don't work only cold water to wash your hands and no ventilation so it was quite smelly. I hope the staff have warm water to wash their hands!

Another annoyance was I was sat facing the bar and while it was nice to look at the fish tank it wasn't so nice to look at stacks and stacks of dirty glasses being piled up.

All in all we had a good time but I wasn't blown away by it and have eaten in similar places with better food. I would recommend it for its relaxed atmosphere and good fish however I am in no rush to go back myself.

Oh a nice touch was Aldo Zilli dashing round to say hello, that was nice although he whizzed by in such a blur it took a while to realise who he was (the books/posters everywhere helped me though!)
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Rochelle Tempest
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Saturday, April 12, 2008

Went to Zilli Fish on New Years Eve 2007.

Mr Z was there and said hi to everyone which was nice.

We were served with a basket of different breads and a pot of coarsely chopped salsa/tappenade which was served up in a plastic pot !! Not even a glass bowl - PLASTIC !! Cheap & tacky.

The 2 courses that everyone had were extremely good, plenty of it and well cooked.

The gents toilet was minging! Mosaic tiles missing off the wall and generally in a very poor state of repairs. It wasn't very clean either and this wasn't down to huge numbers of people.

Although the food was good, I wouldn't recommend this restaurant
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Alan Barham
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Busy welcomed by Zilli himself, had reservation table was moved to accomodate us, there. Food was fantastic, service a little slow, charged on bill for water that hadn't arrived.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Friday, December 28, 2007

We had a booking at Zilli Fish on 28th Nov 2007 at 5.30pm, when we arrived it was completely empty, even though its open from lunchtime, thought that was a little strange. Ordered Cheesy type mushroom for starter and the beer battered cod and chips for main (or should we say chip! only about 5 chips on the plate, althought the fish was extremely fresh), had 2 glasses of wine each and a bott. of water, the bill came to £90!!!!! oh and they include a 12% S.Charge, whether you want to pay it or not. Italian staff very arrogant and rude. Would never go back if you paid me to.
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L Broomfield
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, November 29, 2007

I went with a freind last week and really enjoyed the experience. Very attentive service. The food was fresh, well prepared and presented beautifully. Even the wine was cold enough for me! Overall it was a very pleasant lunch. I particularly enjoyed the Halibut. I would certainly go again as this was great value for money.
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Gary - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

My partner took me here for my 24th birthday. It was brilliant. The restaurant was buzzing and it felt really relaxed with everyone merry and the music going in the background. The food was really lovely, i adore fish and thought it tasted great, although i would have liked to have seen a bigger selection of starters. The service was excellent, the waiters were incredibly friendly, you were not rushed and there was a decent waiting time between each course so you could really enjoy it. A really good night out, would recommend it for a dinner for 2 or a small group of friends!!!
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, September 10, 2007

Went last night for my partners birthday. Never been before and was really pleased with our choice. The staff and waiters were friendly and excellent. The food was superb. Great atmosphere, and even though not too busy for a Monday night, the atmosphere was still good and `alive'.

Would highly recommended and can't wait to go back.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, July 31, 2007