La Sorrentina Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Great Britain

Visited May2022 as part of a corporate bash. La Sorrentina is an amazing place. A functional, slightly battered outside, with a front door that opens to the side of the building, the interior is small and cozy, yet accommodates quite a few people, resutling in a bright, lively and noisy environment. The menu is modest, with attention to the major bits that we English believe is the standard Italiian offering (anti-pasta, pasta, pizza, risotto, etc).

The staff are amazing. A family own and run the place. They are the chefs, the waitstaff and the entertainers. The pace of service is really quick, with no hesitation, little reptition and occasional deviation from the menu at the customer's request.

The food is cooked to absolute, sublime perfection. Pasta that is truly al dente. The flavours are strong and deep, with a particular interest in garlic. The spaghetti is particularly good, tossed in garlic oil and chilli oil (I think). The tagliatelle al pollo blends dozens of flavours and textures into a warm satisfying bowl of heaven (the sauce is basically an intensely-flavoured bisque, it is amazing). The bistecca arrives medium-rare, half-dressed in a deep, flavoursome gravy. The risottos balance texture and flavour. The food demonstrates the truism that excelling at the basics, dismissing vainglorious frivolity, is the way forward.

The wine list appears to have been calibrated within nanometers of the menu and cooking style. On this occasion, every wine on this particular corporate table had its own distinct flavour and it met all of the strongly-flavoured foods on the table.

By contrast to the main courses, the tiramusi is light and delicate, yet still carries flavours (even after all of the garlic of the main courses).

A...

Whilst visiting the area for a few days we decided to eat at the La Sorrentina Italian. My wife and I love Italian cuisine and have eaten in many places and locations over the years. The food at La Sorrentina is average at best. We have eaten far worse and far better. The service was average. What I have a real problem with is when they charge crazy prices for what is effectively nothing amazing. 4 pieces of Ravioli for £20! That's it. No garnish. Just 4 peices of ravioli on a plate with a little sauce! £9 for garlic mushrooms and nothing else. No crusty bread. No garnish. Nothing. Just plonked in front of me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm cool with paying whatever for good food and service but that is just a liberty in my opinion. However I resigned myself to the fact that I ordered the afore mentioned ravioli and if thats what you get, that's what you get. However when it came to the bill it was presented to me with a 10% service charge hand written on the invoice as if to say 'well that's what we expect' and that's where I have an issue. I'm more than happy to pay a service charge for good service but when the service I'm paying for isn't that out of the ordinary then all they are doing are disguising the fact they are charging more for their food than advertised which is way over priced in the first place and taking people for mugs! We had to ask 3 times just for a jug of water for gods sake! The only reason I didnt end up telling them to poke their service charge was the fact my wife asked me not to make a scene! If you want to pay over the odds for average food and then it be taken for granted you're going to pay for the privilege then go ahead. My wife and I will chalk this one down to a disappointing...

My partner and I booked here a few days before valentines and had never been before. Over the phone the lady told us we had the last vacant table for the evening at 8:15 which was great. I also asked if there was a set menu as it was valentines; to which I was told no, it was their standard menu for the evening. We turned up to see only around half the restaurant was full, with the waitress telling us to ‘sit wherever’. Once we sat down, there was a printed word document on the table with 3 or 4 random dishes on as part of their valentines set menu, which didn’t contain any ‘standard’ Italian meals such as spaghetti bolognase, lasagna, or simple pizzas- just a really random selection that didn’t appeal to neither my partner or I. Because of this, we decided to leave, I told the waitress we were informed it wasn’t a set menu when booking and that we don’t like anything that is on the set menu, so we were going to leave so the table will be free. We left the restaurant and turned around to the manager shouting down the road to us ‘what did you just say to my waitress?’. I responded and told him what I had said inside, that we were told it wasn’t a set menu and didn’t like what was on it. He came back with ‘you are lucky I’m being nice, it’s valentines and we are busy, you’re lucky I haven’t charged you’. I was rather taken back considering we explained our reasons for leaving as we had been misinformed, and left politely. The managers response was aggressive for no reason, and quite frankly appalling to be spoken to like that for no reason. I have also seen many other reviews commenting about how the manager had told customers to ‘f off’ etc. Really let down and ruined our night, won’t...