Merchant of Venice — Restaurant in Great Britain

If you are looking for an Italian restaurant, then this is it! You will not be disappointed!

We booked a table at The Merchant of Venice for a wedding anniversary and was welcomed by Patricia and Hari. The service and the hospitality were amazing.

This place has three floors, the ground, upper and cellar. We were allocated a lovely private setting area in the cellar. It was cosy and romantic.

We had drinks with starters, mains, and desserts.

The starters were all brilliant. Olives, bread, and salad. The garlic creamy mushrooms, which came with toasted bread, were amazing. The chicken and egg panini's were extremely tasty!

The seafood marinara came piping hot with plenty of king prawns, mussels, and clams. The other main is the creamy garlic chicken pasta. When ordering the mains, we asked if the type of pasta could be changed to tagliatelle from penne, and this was swiftly adapted, without any quibble.

The tiramasu had unfortunately run out and proved that it must be one of the best sellers. Hopefully, next time, we will try this. We had the pistachio cheesecake and lemon tart, both lovely.

We have been to many Italian restaurants over the years all over the UK and the world. This has got to be one of the top up on the list, second to none in hospitality, and the food was authentic and amazingly tasty. Patricia was more than happy to accommodate and made it a memorable special occasion for us.

I would like to send a special thank you to Patricia and Hari for making our day special and that you are both amazing souls. You definitely care about people, in which you serve and make us happy!

We will definitely be coming...

Came here for lunch - it wasn't our first time as we'd had a good experience before - and we were very happy this time too! I had the spinach and ricotta cannelloni, which was delicious, and my partner had the chicken which was beautifully cooked and came with a lovely selection of vegetables, all cooked just right.

I thought some bread and olives might be nice to nibble on while we waited for the mains, and was expecting a plate with a few olives and a slice of bread - but no, the bread and olives plate was huge, with dozens of olives, a very nice and well dressed salad, and some gorgeous lightly toasted Italian bread. It looked like a meal in its own right, but was a very reasonably priced starter.

The service was perfect - our server and her colleague (Dona and Mahi) were friendly, helpful, efficient, attentive, and made the whole dining experience very special.

The restaurant itself has a garden (which we didn't explore as the weather was quite chilly earlier today), and the inside seating is comfortable - they even have a table with a couple of swing seats, which look fun! The decoration inside is lovely and quirky - see photos.

The prices are incredibly reasonable, too - can't recommend this restaurant highly enough. They also have a branch very near the station, which does very nice coffee and croissants (and breakfasts).

Oh - and the coffee was...

We came in as a group of 8 people without a booking, hoping to be seated together. We asked if we could sit downstairs at one of the bigger tables, even though we noticed the downstairs area looked closed at the time. To our surprise and delight, the staff didn’t hesitate—they opened it up just for us without any issues or complaints. That alone showed an incredible level of hospitality.

From the moment we arrived, the customer service was outstanding. Every member of staff we interacted with was friendly, professional, and genuinely helpful. They made sure we were comfortable and well looked after the entire time. It’s rare to find service this good these days, especially when walking in without a reservation as a large group.

As for the food—absolutely amazing! Everything was fresh, full of flavor, and clearly made with care. Every dish was served hot and beautifully presented, and we didn’t have to wait long at all despite our group size.

Overall, we were extremely impressed. The combination of excellent service, delicious food, and a warm, welcoming atmosphere made this a 10/10 experience. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a place that truly goes above and beyond for...