Portofino — Restaurant in Howick

Had a large table booked that restaurant had called to ask if wanted to cancel as they would be busy (rude) With the name Portofino you'd expect a real touch of Italian but was welcomed by a pub looking eatery with 3 paintings of Italy and a dozen broken lights (we counted them) Our waitress was amazing and did well to serve a large table but the owners/managers were rude and obnoxious. One of our friends asked for a half serving of Gelato as can't eat too much since stomach cancer and was told "fine but you'll have to pay full price" We were then told they were closing soon just a few seconds after receiving our desserts and hurried out the door. Apart from the lovely waitress they did not give any customer service. I was sneered at by the shift manager who was upset that we were paying separately as she had to work it out. Ruined our friends birthday dinner. Would not go back and suggest others to not waste their time considering this...

The manager is incredibly rude. We just wanted to check the corkage fee (which i can see from previous reviews, is an ongoing issue) and she got very defensive and worked up just because we asked clarifying questions in regards to the corkage fee and whether we should still be charged when we ordered more wine from the restaurant. We were happy to pay for it, but she for some reason she got very angry. It was interesting because at first she hesitated to give us the receipt with food items on it, we actually had to ask for it, twice. She shouted at us in front of customers, which was actually quite comical. I feel bad for the owner & waitresses there because she’s letting everyone down. We love supporting local, but never again...

Great foods with terrible service. Always packed of people, better to make reservation before you come. Have been there couple times, this time only allow us to stay from 6:15pm-7:45pm(1.5 Hours) Confirm with us again our dinning time slot once we seated.

Foods are always nice n yummy, fresh n authentic. Just found that the pizza is a bit salty this time.

Want to share about their terrible service this time ( our previous experience is pretty ok) Just want to point out the waitress is not professional as we expected, not refill the water until the dessert time ( actually we already called out twice ), not checking up the foods. Have to call out couple times for dessert menu.... very...