Amici Ristorante — Restaurant in Ireland

Food was well presented and absolutely full of flavour. Lots of choices on the menu for meat eaters, and several vegetarian options too. 4 mains, 2 sides, 4 desserts, 2 cokes, 2 beer and 1 gin £100 less £40 eat out to help out.

Updated May 2022 Just the two of us this time. Would like to see a bit more variety for vegetarians. The limited options they did have were all things I'd cook myself at home. I like to be able to try new things when I'm out and about if I can. I had the tortellini and my husband had the sea bass. Both plates were cleared. Again, full of flavour. My pasta could've been doing with cooking for a minute or two more as it was harder than I personally like, but very tasty. Sticky toffee pudding between us for dessert was perfect. Good portion size and we were both stuffed! Two mains two sides and 1 dessert £46. Definitely one of the more expensive restaurants on the North Coast. Do book in advance as it's always busy. And noisy. Enjoyable evening.

Update June 2023 Sunday lunchtime. Hubby and MIL ordered roast beef dinner which both said we're delicious. I ordered the tortellini again. Best pasta I've had in a long time! Pavlova was too chewy for MILs liking but the sticky toffee was amazing! One starter, 3 mains, 2 desserts, 2 lemonades and 1 west coast cooler - £71 Staff were friendly and attentive. Busy spot - you will need to book ahead for a table. Thank you!

Update August 2023 Seated just before 12pm Sunday lunchtime. Verdure between 3 was enough for us for starter. Tasty. Nice to try something a bit different. I had vedura risotto for my main which I enjoyed. Hubby had linguini amici which he was disappointed with as it was too spicy. We also didn't realise it was tomato based (should've googled the ingredients before ordering lol). MIL had roast beef which she cleared her plate. Sharing starter, 3 mains, 1 west coast cooler and 2 lemonades was £76. Unfortunately the service was slow today. Seated at 12. Starter at 20 past which was fine. Was after 10 past 1 before we got our mains. They were busy but I've a notion they forgot about ours as others we served...

Our first visit to Amici with a group of seven. We arrived five minutes ahead of our booking and were seated by the bar while we waited for our table. I ordered drinks for everyone and we were shown to our table shortly after — maybe a few minutes past the booked time, but no issue.

Staff were friendly, attentive, and happy to help with menu questions. Starters arrived promptly and were well presented. The arancini (three per portion) were light, moist, and a fairly generous starter. The salt and chilli prawns looked a bit sparse on a large rectangular plate — just six prawns with dots of chilli sauce and mayo. They were fine, but a bit too crunchy for my taste — either slightly overdone or just the house style.

For mains we had a mix: pepperoni pizza, spaghetti bolognese, carbonara spagnola, and the tiger prawn hanging kebab. The pasta dishes were excellent — cooked perfectly and full of flavour. The pizza, cooked in their impressive Morello Forni gas oven, had a lovely thin, crispy base. Only gripe was the extra chillies we’d asked for were dumped in one spot — not a big deal, just needed a quick DIY spread, but it did show a touch of carelessness from the kitchen.

The tiger prawn kebab was a showstopper visually — served on a hanging skewer over a bowl of salad. Tasty prawns and fresh salad, though the portion could have done with a few more prawns or something extra to round it off as a main.

The biggest downside was the wait for mains — we’d been seated about an hour before they arrived. The place was busy, granted, but we did notice some of the staff standing around chatting during quieter spells.

Desserts were the highlight — we had cheesecake and panna cotta, both of which were absolutely spot on.

Overall, this was a good first experience and we left well fed and happy. The food is solid, the setting is nice, and the team are friendly. That said, with all the local hype, we were expecting a bit more polish. A few tweaks on portioning, presentation, and kitchen timing would take it up a notch, and we’d happily return to see if...

I can't fault the food here. It is superb in every area and I've never had a bad culinary experience.

However the management are a disgrace to their profession. It is clearly a popular restaurant and as a result they seem to feel that they don't need to make any effort whatsoever to engage in even basic customer service. The manager in particular is an incredibly rude lady.

If you've ever tried to ring Amici for a booking, or even a query, then you'll understand my frustration. They don't answer the phone. They don't have a recorded message to provide info. They don't respond to emails. They are always busy so they simply don't give a hoot about any customers who miss out.

On 2 separate occasions now I have made a 35 mile trip (each way) tonvisit Portrush and to dine at Amici. On one occasion they were closed, on another they were booked up and the outdoor walk up service was not operating.

On both occasions I had phoned literally dozens of times all day long and not been answered. I had checked their website and their Facebook page but there was no message or announcement.

On the most recent trip I arrived to find that the outside area was closed and I would have to wait at least half an hour for a table in the main restaurant. I politely pointed out that I had driven a long way and it was very frustrating that the phone was never answered. "Well we're very busy" was the response. Not so much as an apology.

I reluctantly agreed to wait and they told me to wait outside. First my wife and I went to the car to get a jacket, and the ever so charming manager came barging out the side door to shout across the car park at us. She thought we were leaving without cancelling, which we weren't. However after being roared at we decided to leave her to it.

A sad way to spend our last trip to Amici. Sooner or later this appalling attitude to customers will come...