Maurizio's — Restaurant in England

We have been visiting Mauricio’s quite regularly for a number of years and previously it has been absolutely fantastic, and one of our favourite spots in the city.

We hadn’t been for a little while and last night we visited again, after having booked a table for two. Upon booking you are told you will have the table for an hour and a half in the confirmation text, which is fair and standard.

We were running five minutes late due to traffic, but notified the restaurant. When we arrived, we were given a table near the door, which was a little drafty but it was ok. We ordered pizza and pasta which was (as always) very very good - especially the pasta. They had a couple of larger tables in (6 people) so service was a little slow for things like drinks, but it wasn’t too much of a problem at this point.

The problem arose when ordering dessert. We had been at the table for 45 minutes from our original booked time by this point, and wanted to order two desserts - a Bomboloni (which we have had before and is usually absolutely excellent) and the sweet tagliatelle (which I’d been meaning to try for ages). The waiter told us we couldn’t order the sweet tagliatelle as they didn’t have enough dough as it was busy, so we just ordered the Bomboloni to share, it wasn’t a problem.

Five minutes later the waiter came back and said there would be a bit of a wait with the Bomboloni, so we asked how long and he said 10-15 minutes. We agreed that this was fine and we didn’t mind waiting (we love the Bomboloni so it’s worth it!). He then said that actually we couldn’t wait as he’d need our table in five minutes (I could only assume for the four tigers fans walk ins who were waiting outside, who must therefore be more valuable than us, a table of two?) and that we’d need to order a quicker dessert. We asked if we could order profiteroles (again a very good dessert that we’ve had before) and he said that it’s quick so yes. It arrived and was delicious, but before I’d even put my spoon down he asked if he could clear it away now and was rushing us out. At this point we hadn’t even been there for an hour. The waiter was also arguing with the chef and looking over at us which was a little uncomfortable.

This was extremely poor service, and to top it off, when the bill came they had added a cover charge AND a gratuity which they never did previously. We queried this and the waiter said it’s because it’s “small” and we weren’t having a take away. We’ve eaten in many times before and had not previously been charged for cover or had a tip added unwillingly. He said that when they open the new larger venue in hotel street that the cover charge will be removed. We begrudgingly paid both charges but don’t feel the rude and rushed service really warranted it - so it only added insult to injury.

The additional charges and the rushed and poor service felt very greedy. We didn’t feel at all appreciated or valued as customers, it seemed a more profitable table for the restaurant came along, so they needed us to leave, despite us pre-booking. We were really disappointed, which was such a shame as we absolutely loved Maurizios before. Don’t lose what made you great as your business grows - which was great food and a good...

After seeing so many positive reviews about the food at Maurizio’s, I was so happy that we finally went!!

What I ordered:

Spaghetti Carbonara - this is my favourite dish of all time and the best I have had was in Rome when we visited last May. I always ordered a carbonara to know if an Italian restaurant is good.

Let’s just say that this is my second favourite carbonara I have ever had (the first one being in Rome).

The bacon was so crispy. The pasta was cooked to perfection. The sauce that coated it all was so moreish. Just incredible!

Fries - stated as fries on the menu but actually served with rosemary and Parmesan😍. What a treat!

Food: 10/10 ⭐️

When reading reviews of this restaurant on Instagram, everyone says the food is great (which it is). However, no one ever really mentions the service. If you go onto Google reviews, there are not many sterling reviews regarding the service.

Unfortunately, we did not have the best experience. The food was great but I don’t think I will be visiting again until they are a bit more established and are running smoothly.

It took around 5-10 minutes before I asked someone to take our drinks order to which the waitress said that the other waiter had to do that. Because it then took even longer to get our drinks order taken, I asked if we could order food at the same time to which he said no because he had to take drinks orders for other tables.

It is a small restaurant so delivery drivers were waiting in the middle of everyone eating, along with customers waiting to be seated.

Later on, a family of 6 came in and were told that there was a problem with their booking. The waiter was trying to sort it out but seemed very puzzled. He then came over to our table and asked us to move…this has never happened to me. The family seemed lovely and it wasn’t their fault so my partner and I were more than willing to swap tables for them, but it was so unprofessional of the staff to do this, in my opinion. Thank god our food hadn’t come!

My reviews will ALWAYS be honest and unfortunately, this was not a...

I have mixed feelings about this place, due to my friend who I was with had a lovely meal which she enjoyed, whereas my Lasagne lacked flavour. I was later told by the waitress that it contained both Pork and Beef(to me I think it contained all Pork and no beef due to the colour of the dish). To my surprise and horror. All previous lasagnes that I have had in restaurants over the years have only ever contained beef. They told me that the traditional way of cooking this dish is pork and beef mixed. We sat by the door which was very draughty and found ourselves constantly having to keep shutting it. I am told by friends who have visited that the Pizzas are the best, so if I ever visited again I would have that instead. I have to correct the Restaurants reply :..I DID NOT SAY I DO NOT EAT PORK AS I DO, what myself and a friend also said was," there are people out there who do not eat Pork and would have no idea that you Lasagnes contain this; so just as a suggestion it would be a good idea to include it in the menu that Lasagne may include Pork as most people I know have Beef in a lasagne, plus all restaurants I've ever been to only had beef. Sadly the chef got the wrong end of the stick and is bitter because he feels I have criticised his cooking, we tried to be fair with him and explain, but we felt he didn't want to listen to us and he seemed to suddenly get quite argumentative, then went to get the female waitress who was not on the premises at the time. She was a lot calmer and listened to us and that we did want to pay for the meal and not as the chef assumed we didn't, no way was that our intention. We were quite shocked at his behaviour towards us. My friend was pleased with her dish so it wasn't all bad. We sat at a table we wanted to sit at. You ask if it was ok if the door could be opened, I said it was quite draughty due to the day being a bit cooler and you did not object that I said No to the door being closed. So I did not...