Artigiani del Cibo — Restaurant in England

Starter, I grabbed the Gamberoni alla Diavola; pan-fried tiger prawns in a tomato sauce and homemade bread. The tomato sauce I was hoping as a good sign of things to come, it was extremely rich but not to the point of putting you off another mouth full, combined with perfectly fried prawns that just popped in your mouth before melting with flavour. The homemade bread was the only thing letting the starter down, it didn’t really match the dish for me, far too hard to the point where it was almost unrecognisable as bread upon eating. It was almost as disappointing as the free bread we were offered after ordering drinks. Fresh, homemade bread has a special quality to it that holds almost magical sway over our noses, but here it was just a solid lump of olfactory disappointment.

I was torn between the Branzino or the Cotolette alla Milanese, neither would be on my shortlist of foods were I out ‘eating normally’ but venturing outside of the comfort zone; the Veal. The breaded veal served on spaghetti, let me just say the spaghetti was fantastic, cooked perfectly and that same rich tomato sauce left me just wanting to eat more and more. The breaded veal could have been just about anything, I understand veal is a delicate, subtle flavour, but the veal here was so lacking in anything that it could have been breaded cardboard and I wouldn’t have known better. At first, I thought the breading was the problem, there was a lot of it, very thick coating but not a bad taste, herby and crunchy as you’d probably expect. So I removed some of it and separated a slice of the veal which after a mouth cleanser, I ate. Nothing. A tough thin sliver of nothing. I consider myself pretty good at telling what flavours are in the food I’ve shoved my mouth, but this was nothing. Not like ‘everything tastes like chicken’, just nothing. A slice of breaded ham would have had more flavour.

The souffle looked like a little brown disc whose parents were disappointed in it. The menu says orange chocolate, but I’m led to believe the orange was left in the kitchen along with the veal flavouring.

The tiramisu. I’m going to leave this out of the rating score because I seriously lack for comparison. It tasted okay, a little powdery and a few times I found myself inhaling at the wrong time and feeling like I’d taken the cinnamon challenge, but it wasn’t bad. But was it a good tiramisu? I simply don’t know, it wouldn’t be fair to comment.

Our hostess was either new or didn’t speak English as her first language. Doesn’t bother me whatsoever regardless, we’ve all been new at a job and living in the UK, there’s a lot of people who don’t speak English as their first language and I don’t speak a second so I shouldn’t judge! So if this didn’t matter or impact my evening, why is it here? Because it clearly mattered to someone else.

There was another man working that evening, could have been the manager, maybe the owner, I don’t know, but sitting and eating pudding and hearing not for the first time “What is wrong with you?” as the man berates the poor hostess is certainly enough to ruin the atmosphere and any hope of enjoyment. Every manager has certain expectations of their staff, but even in the smallest business, there’s no excuse for that kind of rude behaviour.

3 out of 5 for the waitress, -1 for mandatory service charge, even on a two-person table. -2 for the manager. Would sooner speak to a Just Eat driver who can’t find my house than deal with the service here again. 0/5

As you’d sadly expect, the drinks are a hard hit, even a few diet cokes adds up quickly. But overall, pretty reasonably priced. 4/5

The tomato sauce is the winner here, I don’t think I’ve ever had better with any Italian dish. If you were coming here and you played it safe, you’d have a lovely meal. It’s only when venturing off the safe path where the wheels shattered, broke, fell off and were probably berated by the manager. I’d eat the food here again, but I honestly doubt I could find myself choosing to eat...

Well we're to start my family and I booked a table for the evening on our short stay in the area!we arrived and was seated pretty fast. Once seated a quite weighty gentleman came and at first appeared friendly towards me and my family,however when it came to ordering the food the gentleman appeared to significantly lower is voice whilst communicating as if he did not want anyone other than our table to hear him. I asked several times for him to repeat what he was communicating. My wife was sitting closer to were he was stood but was struggling to hear him. On the final time of me asking him what he said,he replied by stating that they have a special deal on today, in which we can "all eat for free only if one of my girls were left behind ( my children) and they had to agree". Me and the wife was quite taken back by this comment and shocked, (he played it off as a joke)my reply was we will pay thank you, as at first I did not know how to reply as still in shock. He carried on by saying "free food is free food". I replied we will pay. He left after taking the order and left myself stewing and processing the whole experience over. We ate our meal, and did not follow with a pudding or anymore drinks, then when paying and requesting the service charge to be removed, I was met with a comment from the same waiter asking what was wrong with the service? I stated I just would not pay it. I was left trying my hardest for the sake of my family not to add fuel to the fire as such! In all honesty I am left pretty disgusted that first and foremost anyone would make a comment like that about children even if a joke its very inappropriate and me and my wife found it very concerning. I will not be taking my family here again! I strongly do not...

My wife and I visited from Northern Ireland with our daughter, son in law and grandchildren. We were staying in an Airbnb nearby on a trip to Legoland and Windsor. Called in without a booking, made most welcome, and found a table overlooking the street through an open window, which gave a nice breath of cool air. A very full menu, in the end we went for double starters. A good wine list. We had water on the table, but the headwaiter brought orange juice for the children. Garlic bread arrived ( on the house!) The food arrived quickly and was of very high quality; full of wonderful flavours. A great chef who knows his menu items well. After the meal, we sat chatting with the headwaiter, who is an excellent host. We then were presented with lemoncello again on the house! The children even got special lemoncello ( orange jucice) I was then given a grappa to try!

It was an excellent evening with good food, super service, and sensible prices. I can fully...