Da Sette Soldi Italian Restaurant & Takeaways — Restaurant in Albert-Eden

Just had a dinner with my wife, brother and his girlfriend that just arrived overseas for a holiday visit. We have been an avid customer of Da Sette and my wife and I always speak highly of the restaurant to our peers as the best Italian Restaurant in Auckland. But tonight was different, after we ordered our food, with our usual orders our breads came out as quick as before but with the our mains we waited for 30mins then followed uo with the waitress because it was a bit odd that our mains still hasn't come after half an hour. 10mins after following up, another waiter told us that out order docket got lost that's why our food will be late, from our perspective this is very unprofessional. We have waited for 30mins then another 10mins just to be told that our order docket got lost and not to be rude, we don't really care if it got lost, a much proper approach would be they should have just apologise for the food being served late and give the customer assurance that their food will be out soon, not to tell them that the order docket got lost hence your order will be served late. If "Mama" (Boss Lady) was there this wouldn't have happened because she always check on the Customers especially those who she thinks have been waiting for their order for quite sometime, unlike the new waitresses who have not checked with us until we have requested to follow up our orders. To make the matter worst we have waited for another 20mins then I have to tell the senior waitress that if in 2mins our food does not come, we will be leaving, just after a min all of our food came out, but not as we expected. We always order Fettuccine Sette Soldi (one of the best pasta we have ever tasted) 3 orders had runny cream sauce which means that it was rushed and was not rendered enough, then 1 of the three which tasted bland. I felt really disappointed that time, we always look forward to their food and been talking about it all day with our guest (bro's GF) that she will be amazed by how this restaurant make their pastas and how good it is. We still think that this is the best Italian Restaurant in Auckland, but with how tonight turned out, we might take a rest visiting the place for a while. Hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone and "Mama" to comeback on the floor and have better/well trained staff to help them continue making delicious Italian food for us, their...

It pains me to leave a bad review on a restaurant with decent service, but I imagine this place has insane profit margins because their food is of terrible quality but at restaurant prices. I'm not sure if this is because I went at a time when the spot was packed in the evening but it's certainly not an excuse. I ordered the cheesy bread, the seafood chowder, risotto salsiccia, and the bistecca mignon which I strongly recommend against ordering.

Their bread, made from their pizza base is alright to munch on but mediocre at best with a pizza base that tastes like a frozen supermarket variant. At close to $9 you expect more. This, however, was something I could live with.

The seafood chowder was probably the nicest item we had, although it was watered down and slightly chalky.

Disappointment truly hit when our filet mignon was laid on the table covered in sauce. Swiping some of it away with our spoon we saw a steak that had practically no char on it as though it had been boiled. It was underseasoned and incapable of absorbing any flavour from the sauce. We wondered if that was why they'd covered it the way they did instead of serving it separately and letting the steak take centre stage. The ham was tasteless and bland. The vegetables felt blanched and not seasoned. It was a complete rip-off. We asked for it rare and if that was something the kitchen wasn't prepared to deal with skilfully we should have been informed.

The risotto tasted like a TV dinner, a largely underwhelming sauce base and sausage cuts that were definitely either cheap or... boiled. A mix of different weak flavours that all got lost. I'd lost my appetite and taken it home to go in hopes it didn't go to waste and that it could perhaps be fixed.

I'm very sad that we had such a disappointing experience for the amount of money we spent and the anticipation we felt to dine here, and genuinely hope they will relook the maintenance of their quality as seen in some of the positive...

Sadly, in this day and age people usually write when they have a gripe or complaint. I am writing for a totally different reason. Last night ( 25/6/15), on a recommendation, I took five people to dine at Da Sette Soldi restaurant. All five are professional entertainers who have extensively travelled – and dined – globally. This unpretentious restaurant turned out to be a gem. An open hearth fire gave a cozy warmth on a cold night. Two of my party had appetisers and all five main courses. No two had the same dish and all concurred that the dishes were exactly as advertised and impeccably prepared. I opted for the chicken risotto. The best risotto I have ever had was at the Trattoria l’Antica in Sorrento, Italy where I dined frequently. This came in a very close second. I would give it a 9 out of 10. One of the biggest assets of this restaurant is the staff. Brilliant! The all female wait staff are extremely professional. Silent, efficient. Not once did they hover over the table but were instantly there when required. Bravo! I have only one tiny complaint. We had to leave this cosy warm ambiance and go out into a freezing night to get home. We’ll...