Azzurro — Restaurant in London

I don't usually review places, BUT this was one of the worst (value for money) places I've been in a very very long time. I am shocked it still operates for the prices it does. I get it, London is expensive so we decided to choose this Italian Gem.

Noone greeted us, who knows where they were? So asked for menu after going in to look for someone. Menus brought (and with pre-made water jugs I saw inside) Noone offered any? So I specifically asked for some to be brought out. (She forgot) so I had to remind her to bring it out twice. ..? (Sorry to say but that's your ONLY job is to make sure these things are done with every guest). Especially when it's not busy at all? Anyway. ..

Food. ....I can't even begin to say. Shame my phone died otherwise I would have taken pictures. We've had: Calimari for starters - absolutely tasteless batter, very chewy and thick calamari NOT what's been posted by other people?! Thick, same shaped and sized. No seasoning was offered or put on table (again had to ask twice for salt and pepper to be brought out...let alone offered though right?? Fml 🤦‍♀️) I ate a little bit as by that point was starving. My son ate the rest. OK thought that was bad...then it gets to the mains... My son had spaghetti carbonara- cheap thick pasta with cheap bacon bits - came with grated cheese. OK for how cheap it was £6.95....cheap thick pasta with bacon bits and sauce...ALDI £3. I've had Pasta with Mushrooms...... - thick, tasteless undercooked pasta, with uncooked mushrooms and chewy spinach. Horrible white wine sauce - by horrible I mean half watery, absolutely tasteless sauce. All unsalted, unseasoned ...literally plain - difficult to swallow. Noone came to offer any cheese?! Had to ask for cheese and again for salt and pepper?

They served spaghetti with fork and knife? No spoon was offered? Had to ask for that again.

Very annoyed as not only the food was horrendous, but the service lacked basic common knowledge. Ended up spending over £60 in there which made it even worse because I'd rather spend money like this in a restaurant which is worthy coming out for. Never going to this place again. Ever. No matter how hungry I am. I would thoroughly recommend to change the buyer (who orders stock in) for this place and a chef - whoever makes the food that bad taste even worse.

Really really...

Read all the positive reviews on my Taste Card app so was looking forward to a real treat.

Starters were average to poor. We ordered the Gamberoni (garlic prawns) and Antipasto. The prawns were luke warm, with a tasteless, watery brown sauce. Antipasto similarly underwhelming, way too oily, and none of the components seemed particularly fresh or high quality. But nothing could have prepared us for what was to follow.

We ordered a calzone and chicken, pea and ham risotto for our main courses and decided we'd share our meals and have half each.

The calzone was cold in the middle, so my dining partner politely complained, and the food was taken away. At least we'll get a whole, fresh, properly cooked calzone back we thought. Unfortunately, his half eaten portion was returned piping hot, just 2 minutes later. We can only assume it was reheated (perhaps for a third time?) in the microwave. A particularly reassuring thought considering it contained such salmonella averse ingredients such as ham, sausage and 'ground meat'. Oh wait...

We wouldn't have minded so much if the food itself wasn't so unpleasant to eat. The top of the calzone was in fact missing, which they had cleverly disguised with a thick layer of cheese. The dough was rubbery, the filling tasted of nothing, and all in all was unsurprisingly, way too cheesy.

The measly portion of risotto was strangely dry, and tasted of nothing but cornflower. Very unpleasant.

Our waitress didn't offer us any pepper, as had some pre ground on the table. This felt particularly at odds with the cost of the food (£10-15 for mains), and was in keeping with the general lack of care and effort that was apparent throughout.

Genuinely the worst meal we've ever eaten out in London. Wish we'd left after our disappointing starters.

Baffled by the overwhelming positive reviews on the Taste app/website, we googled Azzurro after our visit, only to find that many other people have had similarly horrific experiences.

Visit...

I went there with my family to have some food. We ordered 3 spaghetti carbonara and some sort of pizza. Carbonara was basically some simply value pasta with some meat and bit of cream on top. Pizza was a brick with some salami slices in the middle and bit of cheese on top. The texture of pasta was like eating a doe, you know when some times you get carried away and over cook it but you don't want to throw it away because you can't be bothered cooking again. But that is when you are home, tired after work. My brother, who ordered the pizza, and fair play, managed to eat the pizza, pushing it down with a sip of pop after every bite. We were walking all day on Sunday, sightseeing and we were very hungry. We sat down around 7pm. Anyway, what I noticed was that they weren't even Italians, they were just using some words quietly to pass as such. See, I have the fortune to understand Albanian and Italian, so i caught parts of the conversation they were having. They were mocking the customers. I was charged £53 for 3 pastas, one pizza, a bottle of water and two small bottles of pop. Generally speaking, I wouldn't feed the food they served to my dogs. I was really hungry and tired from about ten hours of walking, so I behaved like a good puppy and ate the food. I've been to Italy many times, Spain, France, Germany and other countries in EU. It was the worst food I've ever had, with no exaggeration. I cook as well and as far as I know pasta should be al dente not al soggy, with no sign of Parma cheese whatsoever. I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy. Very disappointing...