All reader reviews by Ritchies

Da Aldo

We have been there on a very special occasion for a very romantic dinner. We have read some reviews about this place, and finally we absolutely agree with one of them: "real Italian food, 'bestemmie' included"! As you enter inside the place is seems to be magically back to the 50s, projected onto Roman vacation movie... it really made us homesick. Furniture is as old as the restaurant itself, that, as far as I know, has been opened in 1969. Each table has a candle on it and a red-and-white squared cloth. Menu is almost handwritten and there is a bottle of good extra virgin oil, garlic flavoured, so that you can help yourself to enjoy same nice bruschette while you are waiting for your meal!

There is not much to say about the place. Food was authentic, maybe it tasted a bit too much of garlic, but we really enjoyed our polenta and our pasta. One of us has some sausages, but unfortunately there were a bit far from the ones you can taste in Tuscany. Wine is good and not overpriced. On the whole, the experience was positive under every aspect.

Finally, the value for money is absolutely great, there is a set three course menu for GBP 11! The only risk with a set menu is that you might eat in a rush, without the necessary time to appreciate your order. We kindly recommend to have a look around your table, as you might run into a nice offer for a tasty meal not included in the main menu. Finally, the homemade lemon ice cream is incredibly wonderful!

Saturday, October 15, 2011
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10

La Menara

It's never been so difficult to write a review for a restaurant, as even after a while we are still a bit uncertain about the experience we had in this place.

We went there to celebrate my birthday, as Moroccan cuisine is one of my favourite, plus I really enjoyed the pictures I saw on La Menara's website.

The restaurant is located in a nice area, though during the night it seems to be in the middle of nowhere: streets are dark and empty and there's absolutely no one around. As you enter inside, it seems to be magically projected onto the warm and hot atmosphere of a typical Moroccan cafe, with its colourful pillows and carpets, the yellow light of candles and lamps, the beautiful curtains falling down from the ceiling, and some aromatic perfumes all around... Being enchanted by the spectacular atmosphere might help to swallow and digest the tasteless food. Besides some saffron potatoes we had as a started all the rest was absolutely bland, and very far from typical Moroccan flavours. Prices would be ok, but not comparable to the microwave meal we had. My vegetarian tagine and my cous cous were insipid and plenty of butter, which, being Italian, as far as I know of Mediterranean cuisine, is not exactly a typical ingredient, it has nothing to do with the aromatic extra virgin olive oil and can really spoil the meal.

Staff was nice and polite.

Nothing more to add. Just go there to have a good cup of mint tea and to enjoy the ambient, but absolutely avoid the food!

Saturday, October 15, 2011
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 3