Mediterraneo — Restaurant in England

My family (2 adults and 2 children, age 12 and 10, 1 vegetarian) ate here on a Sunday evening in the Christmas holidays. The atmosphere was relaxing and friendly with nice piano music in the background and beautiful photos of Italy on the walls. The lady who served us (we think the owner) was lovely and explained all the specials and any menu items we needed help with. In case it is of interest to others, I overheard her explaining to another table that they had gluten free pasta but couldn't guarantee food to be gluten free. Between the four of my family we had a Margherita pizza, a Margherita with olives, Scallopione ai funghi and Spaghetti carbonara. All meals were polished off enthusiastically! My children had milkshakes as a dessert (they enjoyed the cream topping!), I enjoyed a Baileys hot chocolate with toppings and my partner enjoyed the Tiramisu. We all had a drink with the meal (soft drinks for the kids, a medium glass of wine and 2 beers) and the bill came to just over £100. We thought this was very reasonable considering the quality of the food, the excellent service and the authenticity of the experience. We will remember this restaurant for our next visit...

What a surprise... we couldn't get into La Scala and they recommended Mediterrano. I don't normally rave about things but this was the best food we have had for as long as I can remember. This is a small family run restaurant with amazing food. The chef Yani is from Turin and his wife Alexandra was from Rome. It was like have a private chef. It felt like being in a small restaurant abroad, the ones only locals know about! We had a fantastic starter of melon and parmesan ham, goats cheese and sun dried tomatoes. The mains were both of the specials board... swordfish and a prawn linguine.... both were lovely.. my daughter was made so welcome and she had an amazing fresh pizza that was difficult for me to not help her...:) If you are in Paignton you must not miss this if you like Italian food.... but be careful... it's small and you might not get in.. give them a call first.. Thank you Yani and Alexandra for a super meal that was a real surprise, value for money.. top quality... wish they were closer to home as we would be...

My wife and I stumbled across Mediterraneo almost by accident when our train at Paignton was cancelled. We initially went in just for a coffee as it was a little earlier than we'd usually eat dinner at 17.50, however the front of house lady was so friendly and welcoming, and the place was lovely with an authentic air, we thought it best to stay for dinner. We were very glad we did! The food was very authentic italian, with the breads, pasta and desserts all being beautifully cooked and delicious. My wife generally complains that Italian restaurants in the UK always cook pasta softer, for the English palate, but was very happy to find the pasta at Mediterraneo was cooked al dente. Even as the place got busy, the front of house staff stayed happy and friendly, taking our and other customers requests in her stride. We don't come to Torbay often, just once a year, but you can be assured we will be visiting Mediterraneo...