Angoletto Trattoria Italiana — Restaurant in London

Lovely staff, but disappointing food – not the Italian experience we hoped for

We visited Angoletto with high hopes, especially as Italians who deeply enjoy and appreciate our cuisine. Sadly, aside from the genuinely warm and friendly staff, the experience left us very underwhelmed.

To begin with, we noticed an insect in the glass at the table next to us. These things can happen, and we calmly let the waiter know — it was handled politely, but it set the tone for what followed.

In terms of the food, we had made a conscious effort to lower our expectations a little, knowing we were dining outside Italy. Still, the dishes failed to deliver even a basic level of authenticity.

The gnocchi al guanciale was described as such, but in reality, it was more like a very heavy and overly creamy quattro formaggi (four cheese) gnocchi, with two tiny supermarket-style bacon cubes thrown in. It was extremely salty, and the gorgonzola flavour was barely noticeable.

My dish — the calzone with prosciutto and mozzarella di bufala — was, unfortunately, no better. While the dough was actually quite tasty, the cheese inside was definitely not mozzarella di bufala. It lacked the texture, flavour, and delicacy you'd expect. The prosciutto inside was also a let-down — not prosciutto cotto, but the kind of square, processed ham you might find in a bulk pack at Aldi. For the price, it simply wasn’t acceptable.

I truly don’t enjoy writing negative reviews, and I wish our experience had been different. But I think it’s important to be honest so other diners can make an informed decision. The staff were lovely, but the food did not live up to what was promised — or what...

We booked through Open Table and arrived at the booked time. We were told quite rudely that their system isn’t working with Open Table and that we would have to wait 20 minutes for a table. The wait was said she would bring us bread and olives and get us a couple of drinks while we waited (assumingly as an apology). We were extremely hungry and had walked 2km to get there so we decided to stay and wait.

She allowed us to order immediately at the bar “so it’s not like you will be waiting an hour for food or something.” The bread and olives took over half an hour to turn up, just after we were seated. Our food took an hour and a half to arrive. It was tasty, but given its a small restaurant with about 10 tables, this seemed absurd. Our “quick meal” turned into almost 2 hours from start to finish.

This was the same as every other table in the restaurant, and everyone looked equally as hungry and annoyed as we did.

Yes, the food was great when it finally arrived. But the service was sub-par; the ambiance much the same, the tables were all dirty, and just an overall ridiculous experience.

And - we were charged for the olives, bread, and drinks we were “offered”, without so much of an apology for the long wait time for our booked table, or for the food.

Such a shame, as the food was good (although we were absolutely famished as our overdue 2pm brunch turned into an early 4pm dinner), but the rest was a skit out of...

Worst restaurant experience I've had since moving to London. Booked here because it was the only place with availability before lockdown, and I can see why.

There were absolutely nothing in terms of covid-safe practices - no hand sanitizer, no track and trace, didn't ask for our contact details, no distance between tables. We were told upon arrival that many of the items on the menu were not available. The menus were falling to pieces, the lights were flickering as if the electric bill hadn't been paid. It was freezing cold so my partner and other customers were sitting with their coats on. There were no toilet seat in the female toilets. There was only one waitress covering the whole restaurant, as well as delivery orders, so the service was very slow. Waited around an hour and a half for our mains to be served. I ordered the veal (one of the most expensive dishes on the menu) and when it arrived it was literally two pieces of meat on a plate and then a separate bowl of leafy salad with no dressing or anything, which you could buy from the supermarket for 50p.

At the end my partner very politely told the waitress that we weren't happy with our meals or the length of time we had to wait. The waitress had been very friendly but at this point she became quite hostile and repeatedly told us that we should of "went to McDonald's if we wanted fast food".

Absolutely would not recommend or...