All reader reviews by Rico

VaBene

Went here recently with a few friends and we were suitably disappointed at the overpriced food and wine and undersized portions. It wasn't too busy so we initially got served in good time buth for some reason there seemed to be an increasing amount of forgetfulness from the waiting staff as the meal went on....it took ages to get coffees served to us despite the place being practically empty (although they were very quick in taking our money which included the ridiculous 12.5% service charge).

The wine list, albeit extensive, is massively overpriced....a good way of making a profit if the food is good value but it wasn't so I can't work out how they can charge so much (oh sorry I forget, I'm in Soho-the tourist trap)

The food was very average. Papardelle (pasta was correctly cooked) with crayfish and a lamb jus (very odd combination which confused my fellow diner who is a chef) was not incredibly tasty and the portions were lame and all this for £13 which is a lot for some pasta and half a dozen pieces of crayfish and some sauce. The mixed green salad we asked for had enough salt on it to kill most slugs on the planet. So in that context at least we didn't find a live slug in our lettuce!

Ok, it's not a bad bad restaurant but you just expect pasta to be more reasonably priced whether it's in Soho or not. Perhaps we caught it on a bad day, perhaps I can't 'appreciate' the crayfish and lamb jus combination but perhaps they need to up their game a little bit to justify the prices or just lower their prices slightly (especially the wine) and serve average food.

Friday, September 17, 2010
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0