Il Fornello review by Suzanne
I decided to visit Il Fornello after reading the generally positive reviews on this website.
I don't like to be negative about every aspect of a restaurant as it makes me look unreasonable however on this occasion I have little choice. There was absolutely no atmosphere despite it being a Saturday night and at least half full. The service was clumsy and when we ordered the wine we were told that we couldn't have the bottle we had selected from the menu as they didn't have a licence, however they could go out and get one (I'm still not sure how they could serve wine at all if they didn't have a licence).
This would all have been forgivable if the food had been good, unfortunately it was not. The pasta was undercooked (and I don't been mean al dente), the tomato sauce had no seasoning, the chicken conversely was seriously overcooked and dry. The pizzas were ok - the bases appeared shop bought and were a little stodgy, the cheese was quite tasteless although they compensated by generous toppings - not worth the £9.95 price tag.
When the waiter collected the dishes we were not asked how the food was (possibly the virtually untouched pasta gave him the idea) so I volunteered the information only for him to respond with a grumpy, "what's wrong with the food?" as he was walking away even though i'd just told him exactly what was wrong (see comments above). There was no apology or offer to reduce the bill.
As I was with my mother and we would have been late for an exhibition at the British Museum I didn't have time to call the manager over, though if I had been just with my partner/ had more time I would have refused to pay for the pasta.
Overall a very disappointing experience. If an Italian cannot even get pasta right then it is a wonder they are still in business.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Overall rating 
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
review comments
Leave a comment
Please note this is to leave a comment on the readers review above.
To review this restaurant please click here
To leave a comment about the review above, please log in or register first.
To review this restaurant please click here
