Ristorante La Nonna — Restaurant in England

Lunch on Saturday 1 October 2022 This is the most authentic Italian restaurant within twenty miles of Kendal. Today my wife had the Pizza Mediterranea (with goat's cheese, peppers and pesto), I had the Gnocchi Sorentina (with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil|) and we shared a green salad (spinach and cherry tomatoes). We each had a lovely, large glass of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc) and an espresso afterwards. The service was fantastic, the pizza and the gnocchi were the best we have eaten outside of Italy and the total bill was only £46.00. Recommended in every possible way!

Dinner with friends on Friday 2 September 2022 We eat here every couple of months as it is one of Kendal's best two restaurants, along with Corner 124 (which is almost next door). However, I do not always write a review as the experience is always great! Every time we eat here everyone says that every course is excellent. This evening we had three bottles of wine (there were four of us on a Friday night after a hard week), four starters (I had the Caprese Salad), four mains (I had the Vegetarian Spaghetti Putanesca) and three desserts (one to take away, Chris, after you had already eaten one dessert at the restaurant, shame on you!). The service was friendly and the interaction with the staff was consistently engaging, positive, relaxed and unhurried. At the end of the night we even had to ask for the bill (unhurried service, again). The total bill was only £155.00 and in today's economy that is money well spent!

Birthday dinner on Friday 20 August 2021 ​W​e had made reservations and were seated upstairs in one of the windows. We ordered a bottle of Nero d'Avola wine to start with​ but they had run out and so we ordered Barolo instead.​ ​For starters m​y wife has mussels in tomato sauce ​as they had run out of arancini (fried rice balls filled with mozzarella) ​and I had a (huge) traditional Italian Caprese salad (buffalo cheese, sliced tomatoes and rocket leaves). For ​main courses​ my wife had a Mediterranean pizza (as opposed to the usual four chees​e​ pizza) and I had a vegetarian lasagne dish. Both were REALLY great and we were spoken to in Italian as the owner recognised that we spoke enough Italian to order food and drink. Plus points include the welcoming service and really delicious and authentic Italian food. Minus points include running out of certain items but they were really busy and so that is to be expected in a popular restaurant on a Saturday night. We will be back next month! Buon appetito!

Lunch on Friday 22 November 2019 This was our second meal at Pekora Nera but this is my first review as last time it was so new that it did not appear on Google Maps! Really, really authentic. Do NOT believe any review that says this restaurant is not properly Italian as the owners are Italian and work there as opposed to just own it. There is REALLY great service and real Italian food. Penne al Pomodoro (penne pasta in tomatoes, basil and garlic) at £5.00, a wonderful Mediterranean pizza with loads of toppings at £11.00, two large glasses of Nero d'Avola red wine and two espressos cost £30.10. There are Happy Hour Specials at £5.00 each between 12.00 and 2.00 Mondays to Fridays so look out for these bargains. An experience so good that we have decided to go back once a month...

We had a pleasant and satisfying meal at La Nonna. The front of house staff were very polite, accommodating and worked hard to keep things moving.

We received a warm welcome when we arrived and had our drinks served quickly.

The menu had a good selection of starters, pizzas, pastas, meat and desserts. And all reasonably priced. Our starters were delicious (meatballs, aranchini) but calamari fritti weren't quite right and overdone. Mains were all excellent, both in portion size and quality; calzone, tomato gnocchi, carbonara, and tortolini. An offer of bread (charged not free) for the table along with water when we sat down would have been good. Maybe one for the owners to consider for the true Italian experience.

The puddings were decent, we had a delicious tiramisu, a sumptuous chocolate cheese cake and sticky pistachio canoli with coffee. All excellent and according to the server made by the owner - bravo! I did wish the staff cleaned the dessert cabinet as the shelves were scruffy looking.

The music and atmosphere were good, tables turned quickly and the restaurant was full of families like ours enjoying their food. One thing, please change the table flowers because dead flower buds in yellow water defeats the point of flower decorations.

Overall, La Nonna was great if you like honest Italian food and you're staying in or visiting Kendal. There is also a car park around the corner.

Support these guys if you can so they can keep making good...

Both my partner and I ordered Carbonara Bomb for £19 each, which was spaghetti with carbonara sauce, pancetta, and garlic infused prawns. His had 5 prawns but mine sadly only had 2 prawns. I explained this to a couple members of staff and got an apology but there was no action to make it right in any way. I'm disappointed that staff didn't correct the issue in some way.

During the meal the downstairs portion of the restaurant filled with smoke because something was burning in the kitchen, which was a worry. Things seemed a bit chaotic and the cook burned his hand and dropped serving utensils on the floor but didn't pick them up (presumably because they were too hot), so I didn't see if they went into the sink for washing up or not.

Other than these issues, the food tasted good and the young lady serving us was polite and personable. The deserts were nice, although the tiramisu portion was on the small side because I got a corner piece from a rounded serving dish.

Sadly, I wouldn't go back on the basis of this visit, as there are so many nicer places to go for the same money. Hopefully the issues can be...