Il Contadino — Restaurant in Gauteng

Impressive menu, impressive setting, impressive staff, sadly less impressive food.

The caprese was excellent: fresh, seasonal tomatoes, a smooth, sweet balsamic vinaigrette, crunchy dehydrated basil and much anticipated pulled mozzarella balls - star of the show. The pizza: a sweet, tangy tomato sauce, actual basil leaves and a beautifully cooked crisp, bubbly crust was marred by a thick blanket of cheese - the meal we were most looking forward too, sadly fell short of our, granted very high, expectations. The spinach and ricotta ravioli: tasty, creamy, and definitely prepared in house, though completely devoid of acclaimed truffle - trust me you know it when you taste it. Chocolate fondant: the scarce (homemade?) ice cream was bright and dense and delicious. The fondant, less so. The molten centre floury, thick and sticky (maybe slightly overcooked).

What made the night was our water. Richard was such a gentleman: kind, witty, energetic and professional. We would come back just to be served by him again.

Not sure I would recommend. Corkage was R100 and we were glad we brought our own wine. By the glass or by the bottle would have left us empty pocketed and even more sour.

Also, cool...

2nd time lets give it a try.Never again.

Opening week we tried to eat as walkins but they were full to the street.

So today 15 Sept 18 we tried the charming looking eatery.

Welcome was great as 4 waiters smiled. We sat outside as the weather were perfect.

Drinks single Tangarya Gin + tonic perfect exstra lemon Perfect! Speedy it arrived.

We ordered 2 chicken salads after drinks arrived. 5 minutes later and 1dog bowl with greens arrived.Keep in mind the theme it's different and the dog bowls fit in perfect.

Not touching the 1 salad - 10 min later got up to ask a waiter inside where is the other salad.

About 10 tables inside and 3 outside at this time. 15 minutes later our original salad bowl and twin dog bowl arrived.

YESTERDAYS "ORGANIC" LEAVES

About 3 dessert spoons of tasty chicken and after removing 1/2 of the greens with black rotten end pieces- left over leaves chewy organic as to no rinse "sand".

The leaves were in dead ORGANIC Not washed is the only FRESH Sandy crunch.

Guys if YESTERDAYS SALAD is served this way,rather take it off the menu.

WE WILL NOT BE SEEN OR RECOMMEND your charming looking little establishment.

GOOD LUCK.

Meals and drinks costed R280 and no...

We were at il Contadino on 28 January celebrating a birthday. Based on previous reviews and the menu pricing we were really expecting to be wowed. The food was abysmal to say the least. I ordered the pumpkin gnocchi which was terribly undercooked the size of each gnocchi so inconsistent I had to check each piece to see if it was really gnocchi. Some were the size of a baby potatoe while some pieces were the size of a baby tomato. The flavor was not great either. I returned it and ordered the mushroom risotto which was so overpowered by the truffle oil you couldn't really eat it. We ordered the bolognese for my son which was dry and way too salty with no real flavoring. The menu is so limited that if you're a vegetarian or eat fish only you would have to settle for an option not to your liking. Will definitely not return. There seems to be no flavor palette in their dishes. There was also a lot of flies hanging around the chef station and flies sitting on the mini bowls of chilli and Parmesan dishes meant to go to each table. That just put me right of wanting to ingest anything in...