Gaetano — Restaurant in England

Where to start....., I shall try and keep this brief. First time admittedly I entered the restaurant later than normal about 10pm I ordered the Squid, whilst it tasted (Just about ok) it was neither made fresh to order nor fresh in the building. I could have used this to replace the front tyres on my car!

Main course of Mushroom risotto...way off the mark, this resembled a porridge? with some lightly sautéed mushrooms thrown in for good measure...where's the passion. I also ordered Peroni..one of the most famous beers of Italy, I got given some other rubbish which wasn't even worth remembering, when I queried the restaurant I was advised the beer I wanted was out of stock and this was a substitute?

Last time I worked in a bar, everything you sold had to be listed under the licensing and trade descriptions act.

Then a week later a friend announced they had a groupon voucher for £45 of food and drink with the only stipulation being you paid and extra £3 for fillet beef dishes. On turning up and sitting down I ordered a bottle of Chianti for £18.95 and was then brought the bottle for £26.95 I turned this down then was told I couldn't order wine by the bottle as in the fine print it stated 'wine by the glass only'....this it wasn't and since I have taken this up with Groupon.

Following my discussions in the restaurant. The 'owner' came out and had a 'chat' with me in the loudest voice possible so loud the entire restaurant was looking over at me (I could have died!) he then returned offering me the telephone number for his Groupon representative for me to settle the dispute that a) wasn't even in black and white and b) he should have checked before coming over!

So eventually I settled on Mussels for starters...like rubber bullets hard and out the deep freezer..Supposed to be fresh (it's October we are in season for mussels). They were over cooked to boot with a heavily herb seasoned sauce. Average at best.

Next up fillet Rossini...The meat itself was very nice and cooked to a good standard, the sauce was Bovrill and cheap red wine, the pate was bland and the vegetables over cooked.

On top of this yet again they brought a different 'Italian' larger to the table despite asking for Peroni. I didn't have the heart or the stomach to ask for a dessert menu. All in all a very poor experience you could do better eating out of a supermarket basics range.

Please avoid this restaurant so save your own sanity...There are far better in town and I have...

I wanted to give zero stars as we didn't even make it here to eat. The staff were so selfish and ungrateful to me today. I was directly told by one of the bosses that "I wouldn't want you as a customer now madam". I purchased a Groupon voucher for my family travelling from Ireland so we could all go here for a family meal. The voucher says expires 4 months after purchase, so of course I thought it was safe to say my booking for November 11th should be okay. I was told that they are only accepting the vouchers until the end of October. He said they can do whatever they want and he's not allowing those groupon bookings after October. This arrogant man would not see my point of view on how unfair this is. My voucher says expires January 2019. He just decided the Groupon voucher dates himself. He told me to contact groupon to ask them what to do and to sort this myself! I have a new baby and had to spend a lot of time contacting Groupon today. I obviously cancelled my voucher with this place now. The staff member has ruined my plans for my family coming just so he can make an extra buck. I'm disgusted. The inconvenience of this is horrible. If anyone else has a Groupon voucher for here sort it out now or they WON'T honour it. Rude and selfish behaviour. To be spoken to the way he spoke to me, just because I'm upset that I cannot now book our meal, is uncalled for. He doesn't want me as a customer now? Thank you very much. Great business...

Great Sunday evening dinner with my mother. Starters vegetable soup and Bruschetta Fantasia delicious and ample. Pizza Vegetariana topped with plenty of juicy vegetables, and tiraamisu to finish. Cost £30. Great ambience and owner very friendly. (Nov 16)

Update 6-Aug-17: I was delighted this Sunday evening to be welcomed back by the original owner Carlo on his first day back after a 6-month break. Having enjoyed the ambience over the years I look forward to seeing this return after the place had a bright repaint and rather stark white lights installed while he was away. I never personally experienced bad service but the atmosphere was not so warm without him.

We were quite late so both just had the vegetable lasagna with mixed salad and tiramisu for desert, a delicious and ample meal for two for less than £30 - in fact my mother took away half her lasagna for tomorrow! I look forward to many more enjoyable evenings there, especially as Carlo says he will be bringing back some favourites to the menu. It is my favourite Italian restaurant in Swindon, which always makes me think of warm holidays in Italy.

update 21-May-2019: Delicious vegan pizza tonight, and the risotto vegetariana was amazing too - just ask what they can do, even if it's not on the menu! Followed by lemon sorbet and tiramisu. Again under...