Ristorante Pizzeria Piccolino — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Stodgy and insipid — nothing remotely special...

A rainy afternoon walk home led to a sudden stoned urge for Italian food so I ducked into Piccolino. Never been before. Thought I'd give it a shot.

An album or playlist of English and American 80s classics wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I didn't let it put me off. I didn't even let the naff decor and the Sofia Loren posters put me off. Four euros for a small glass of ginger beer was irritating though and the food when it came, was not great. It wasn't even particularly good to be honest.

I ordered a tagliatelle carbonara thing, which is a fairly simple dish, but this one was stodgy and really very tasteless. I had to use most of the thick-grated parmesan to get through it. And remember, I was stoned at the time, which means I was not difficult to please....

I'm sorry, you know? I hate giving bad reviews and I wish every place was great, but it's just not. I won't be returning...

Good atmosphere at Piccolino's. Staff are friendly and it was very busy. We were seated quickly and our order was taken promptly. However, when the food arrived the pizza didn't have much topping, very little pepperoni on the pizza. I know a pizza shouldn't be piled high but for the most part it just felt like a margharita. Gnocchi was overcooked and bland. The pesto pasta dish was of high quality and was really tasty. Service started to decline once you had your food, staff were too busy trying to get people seated. Firstly, we asked for parmesan and were given a grunt of a "yes" but the parmesan never arrived as the waiter got distracted by people coming through the door. Again, same thing happened when we asked for the bill and it took me tapping my card on the table for someone to bring it. Was good for a quick pit stop but certainly aint no quality...

After a disappointing experience with another restaurant, boyfriend and I decided to come to this restaurant in hopes to make our evening better.

We were pleasantly surprised by the friendly staff, who offered a great seat by the window. The atmosphere is dark and warm, very cozy for a Sunday evening.

We went for the bread and dips to start which provided a wide variety of flavours. Then we had the gnocchi, which tasted amazing. It tasted homemade, with simple ingredients made with love.

The waitress who served us that evening was also very sweet, we enjoyed her shy but positive attitude.

Overall, I highly recommend the restaurant. The combination of the atmosphere, service and food came down to the fact that it was simple but done very well with sincerity and...