Il Girasole — Restaurant in Huntingdonshire

This was our first experience at Il Girasole and honestly, for a traditional Italian restaurant (not a generic chain restaurant) the food was a little disappointing. I was expecting better considering all the great reviews I'd seen. To be fair, the Arancini starters were delicious and very filling, so they were excellent (we were a table of 4 and 3 of us had the Arancini) and my Dad had the duck main course and said that was good, but everything else was just OK and nothing we would rush back for. I ordered the lobster & prawn linguine which was expensive because of the lobster (I'm guessing) and it came with a tomato & chilli sauce and the sauce was very generic, barely taste the tomato and the sauce overpowered the delicate prawns and the from the texture of the lobster pieces they seemed to be defrosted from frozen so they were soggy & no flavour (they king prawns were the best thing in the dish). I can't remember what my husband & mum ordered, but they were similarly a bit underwhelmed with their pasta choices. I ordered a scoop of strawberry gelato & lemon sorbet for dessert and as a palate cleanser after my main course, and the gelato was certainly nice but the sorbet was incredibly hard (like a rock) - like it had been stuck at the bottom of the freezer or something, very odd and I've never had that experience with sorbet before. The staff were friendly & polite but if we come again we'll definitely request a table at the front of the restaurant as it was incredibly noisy in the rear - of course being a Friday evening with many groups out it was probably inevitable - in spite of the sound dampening features they've clearly added, with draped fabric on the ceiling. Anyway, we won't be...

Where do I start... I have been here approximately 4 times over 3 years. The only reason I have been is for the 'Furios Boor' wine, which they no longer sell. Frankly the food is naff. Its plane, booring and cooked quickly and with no due care or attention. The quality of the service is no better. Tonight I ate steak. £26 for a steak with sauce... massively over priced: the reason is not the food in its entirety but the service. They employ teenagers with next to no experience in a quality restaurant environment. I asked to taste the wine... she poorer the bottle Into both glasses - which I felt obliged to purchase. The seats and table rocked and the menu (which is 'new') was old. There was no attentiveness from staff during the dinner, and I wasn't given a steak knife bla bla bla I could go on. I don't know how people Il Girasol so highly. It's been a naff experience each time Iv been (except for the wine) and I'd highly recommend anyone reading this just got to the Bosphorous Turkish opposite - it's amazing! The manager here is also a twit as he seems to be a keyboard warrior whom attacks customer reviews on trip advisor (not mine) which is petty - take some tips from me pal, train your staff and pay closer...

What a gem. On a father and daughter day I was taken for a lunchtime treat Italian restaurant. Tucked away down an unassuming dead-end side street off the market square. Wasn't obvious a restaurant was there, I said are you sure we are going the right way? Led by my daughter we entered il Girasole. A lovely Italian restaurant. Pleasantly greeted we were shown to our prebooked table. We had our starters breads dipping oils and olives. Three different dipping breads, sesamee twist, tomato bread & focaccia. Which later, during our main course, we could see the breads being freshly made and baked. Our main, recommend by my daughter whom had been here a few times before, was breaded king prawn linguine with a creamy mushroom and cherry tomato sauce finished with a sprinkle of red chilli. So nice. There was banter with the owner I think, over the grating of this huge block of parmesan cheese. Interior decor is tired if not authentic, adding to the ambience. I am taken by this restaurant and will definitely be returning very soon. Highly recommend. Afterwards, ice cream in hand, we watched a few bands, musicians and artist perform on the market square. A...