Napoleat — Restaurant in Cambridge

I was recommended Napoleat by an Italian colleague who claimed it was the most authentic Italian food they had experienced since being in the UK. It did not meet my expectations.

I visited twice last month; first on a date night with my partner where we each had a Gnocchi. I had a seafood gnocchi which was Ok but priced around £18 which I thought to be excessive for what was also a mediocre portion size. My partner had some sort of strong cheese sauce with her gnocchi and that was more pleasant, but similarly scant in portion and pricey. That evening they also almost charged me for an additional beer I never had which I almost didn’t notice!

On my second visit I attended with a party of 8 and this time I tried the Pizza, given that the price was more reasonable at around £15 and the portion guaranteed to be adequate. While pleasant and authentic, the pizza still felt a little scant on toppings, but was better than the gnocchi. Generally, the whole party were disappointed as their expectations were not met.

Key positives however: While the food seems average, pricey, and stingy, there are many positives. The layout of the restaurant reminds me immensely of my time in sorrento and the hotel I stayed in there and so it does seem incredibly authentic. The restaurant is in the Sorrento Hotel and has an ample car park (which is available for spaces to be hired on my parking space which has come in helpful more than once).

However, for me the atmosphere may be 5 stars but it can’t justify the...

I think they’re known for their pizza, and the did look great. I was there to try their pasta hoping it would be a little gem of a restaurant. I think they were having an off night as nothing went to plan. Service. Had several staff try to manage our service but we felt forgotten and an after thought. As an example it took an hour for our starters to arrive. When we were asked if we wanted desert the waiter walk off to get the menu and promptly forgot us. Food/pasta. Italian food relies on the ingredients being of a good quality as the recipes are generally simple with minimal ingredients. I know it sounds harsh but the tomato based sauce tasted raw and lacked any depth of flavour. Not sure if the quality of the ingredients. Finally, we had a cocktail that was totally rank. I don’t think the person who mixed it had any idea how to put this together. I do think this restaurant has a good future and I hope this was an off night. I’ll be back to try the pizza...

I am a professional pizza maker in the catering sector with over 35 years of experience, the pizza is cooked at a temperature of about 400 / 450 degrees Celsius, once out of the oven it maintains a temperature of about 100 / 120 degrees, if the pizza is put in a pizza box after about 20 / 25 minutes it loses at least 50% of its heat, keeping the box closed creates a condensation of steam that makes the ingredients moist and therefore sticky. During the transport with motorcycles with thermal bags of well-known companies that deliver pizzas and other food (not always efficient!) it happens that the cold outside of these periods (October) worsens the quality of the product, so the negative reviews on cold pizza should not be made to those who produce the pizza but to those who transport it. The real Neapolitan pizza should be eaten on the plate at the restaurant, not inside a cardboard pizza box Vincicoppolas...