Il Sogno — Restaurant in Leeds

Where to start,

Just for disclosure this is a cash only restaurant. We went for a birthday on a quite Sunday. the atmosphere - people so that it has a lovely atmosphere, the atmosphere was that of a morgue and there is just conversation noise so unless I am missing something there was not atmosphere at all. When walking into the restaurant you are hit with a smell of Jik which is not pleasant even with the kitchen being at the entrance you would expect the delicious smell of feed to hit you in the face but no. The décor was probably one of the worst I have ever seen with the restaurant plagued with tacky plastic plants and shrubbery all over the place. The table was dirty with the very old fashioned glass table top covering old dirty tables, a table cloth would have sorted that right out but no. I thought the windows were frosted, they are not unfortunately - they were just very dirty which distorted the sunlight making it feel like you were sitting in a microwave, not ideal. The chairs were stained so bad that I don't think there was a part of the chair that did not have a stain on them, a simple clean maybe once a decade would really help with that and make the customers feel more comfortable and I am sure it added to the stale smell in the restaurant (not like the smell at the entrance). I'm not sure how often the restaurant gets cleaned and it could have been clean but with the dusty fake plants, tables and dirty chairs makes it feel a bit dirty. The plates - wowzers, crisp clean white plates would do just fine but I feel like I was eating at my grans house 30 years ago and these are the same plates - just seemed to be very old and needs a refresh. The service - The two servers were fine but need to be trained up as they were handing piping hot food across the table over a minor and if that spilled on them they could have been badly hurt. We were a big group so granted a bit noisy but it did not feel nice being shouted out and being told to keep quiet while the bring the food out. Just a bit more training may be needed. the food - So in my opinion the size of the portions do not match the price so I do feel a bit robbed and they really went on the cheap to maximize profit. all the meals were drowned in cheap sauce and maybe that was tactical to cover up mistakes which I feel is quite spot on to be fair. The food tasted of nothing which was the general complaint around the table and in saying this we gave our orders far in advance so that the food could be prepared and the right amount of time given to make it taste like something I would pay for but if I had been given the option I would not have paid for the food as I could replicate the same meal in a cave with a microwave so I left the restaurant feeling like I have been robbed. If people say that the food was amazing then they have really low food standards or they would be happy to chew on a box as that would have more flavour. My regret is that Spoons was next door and cheaper and I would have rather gone there to eat so if someone has a time machine so that I can have avoided this horrible experience, I am willing to pay top dollar please. If I could get my money back that would be first prize as well. I think I could just be used to the high quality food that my lovely girlfriend serves up I thought that this would be up to restaurant standard food. So to summarise my review - this restaurant is over priced for the portion size and sub par quality of their food and I would avoid at all cost. Go to McDonalds as this place is only serving up sad meals!!! AVOID...

What a shame!

Booked for 5:30 knowing we had to be out by 7:30.... yet 2 hours was not enough for just a main course!

Waitress was lovely and very apologetic for the long waits. Took an hour for the bread to come to the table and didn't get the main course til 6:55. Side order of chips came after some of the party had finished their main.

Politely complained to be told the management will see you on the way out - oh and heard management saying doesnt everyone in here. If you can't handle the bookings, don't take them!

How embarrassing. If 2 chefs cannot cater for 20 people then they should not be in the trade. Seemed to care more about delivery/take outs.

A lot of miserable faces in the restaurant. Such a shame!

Food...

This place has it all. Warm and friendly staff, amazing food, charming and relaxed family friendly atmosphere. Very accommodating to little ones, booster seats/plastic cutlery and plates, everything you need and nothing is too much trouble. Our 18 month old has an egg allergy and they had all the allergen information and were very confident with this. This is very much appreciated as it can be quite unnerving eating out with an allergy but it was clear from the start that we were in safe hands. The food was very tasty and more than reasonably priced given the high quality and current cost of living. Thank you so much, we will...