Brutto — Restaurant in London

The hype around this place is honestly baffling. The fact that the fire alarm went off very loudly for 5-10 minutes, shockingly wasn't the worst part of the experience. Having read much about Brutto, and trying on several occasions to make a reservation, I finally managed to get there for a lunch, and I was very excited to try the food. Decor / atmosphere, probably a little dark for a daytime meal, and nothing overly inspiring visually. What was quickly noticeable was the many staff were young and inexperienced, and as a diner the chaotic energy was quite uncomfortable - I have no doubt every staff member was trying their best however there seemed to be a lack of direction or leadership, so the service was patchy - not even really a criticism as accidents happen, but part of my starter ended up on the floor next to me as the waiter was rushing to get it on the table. After the starters, which were tasty but not really anything special in flavour and presented blandly, we were then waiting an hour to receive our mains. Two of them were cold, and all of them were visually unappealing, and average in flavour - they are traditional Italian dishes which you can find served all over London - and these are not the best examples. Price wise, not worth the money. Having spent a long time here and having needing to leave for something we had tickets for, we decided to skip dessert and just get the bill. When the young server asked if everything was ok, we were honest in that we had waited a long time, two of the dishes were cold, and none of the three of us particularly enjoyed our food. We weren't angry, we weren't looking to get anything for free - we just wanted to give the honest feedback and nothing more. The next thing, and what really made the experience memorable for all the wrong reasons, is when who I assume to be the manager came over to speak to us. We simply explained again and she offered us either a round of drinks, or a dessert on the house. We said we appreciated the offer but no thank you, we have to get somewhere. Then she offered to bring us out new mains for the cold ones, again we decline. At this point she is getting increasingly aggressive and loud, leaning further towards us so we can feel her breath on us, which funnily enough was not a comfortable experience. She exclaims that we have 'hurt her feelings' and that we should have told her immediately that our food was cold as 'we have a very quick kitchen' (sadly, did not experience this quick kitchen on our visit). She literally will not stop ranting at us now so I please ask her if we can end this conversation, and she reluctantly, whilst still complaining to us, goes away. It was quite shocking how she behaved and very unprofessional, possibly she was having a bad day, but I hope others don't experience this. We decided to nip round the corner to Luca, a fantastic Italian restaurant for a quick dessert each and a coffee, which was excellent. So, if you are thinking about going to Brutto, I'd recommend going to Luca, Via Emilia, Gloria or Officina 00 which are all...

I’m confused. Brutto’s food is good. At times really very good and credit to the kitchen is working hard to deliver. But any quality here is dampened by excessive noise levels and inattentive (or lack of) staff.

Our table for 5 was booked for 9.30 on Saturday — the only available time when it was booked, two weeks in advance. Having sat for nearly 15 minutes without any acknowledgement, I ended going to the front desk to retrieve service and the wine menu. A waiter came and though genuinely charming, courteous and sympathetic throughout his service, he appeared powerless to do anything about the music other than explain that Russell Norman ‘liked it loud’. The disparate dance-based soundtrack pushes the volume of the conversation to such a level that an environment which could be buzzy and alive becomes deeply unpleasant. One has to shout rather than talk. With the size of round table we were on, which in normal circumstances would have been fine, it was almost impossible to converse with whoever was opposite.

Less than 35 minutes after taking our order and a short time into our main course we were abruptly told it was last orders as the bar was closing. The women, possibly a manager, was clearly very tense and who could blame her. As she was on the far side of the table she struggled to be heard and coming closer, seemingly exasperated, she explained she was at the end of a 14 hour shift.

What is confusing is that this is so at odds with the authenticity of the food and the ethos of a place that has been hyped as corner of Tuscany in Smithfield. An Evening Standard review refers to it having ‘a mood of familiarity, nostalgia and a kind of swooning, old-school romance’. There has been so much excitement around Brutto’s food but I wonder if the critics have lost site that good food can only be really good if supported by service and ambience to match.

In fairness, the Brutto website states its position on music — once you have swiped through 12 pages of romantic black and white images of Italian personalities — and that it is a restaurant that is ‘very load’ in order to create a ‘fun environment’. This was missed since the reservation system is through Resy which refers to Brutto as a ‘Tuscan diner inspired by favourite humble dining rooms in Florence’. I guess Florence has changed since I was last there.

The good new is that in a generous spirit of like-it-or-lump-it, Brutto's website helpfully offers alternative restaurants should you want somewhere quieter to dine: Luca (round the corner) , Locanda Locatelli, Bocca di Lupo, Trullo, Bancone (in town), The River Café (in West London) and Ciao Bella (in Bloomsbury) where un-complex Italian food is elevated by the charm of the staff and the environment. They are all excellent recommendations. As Brutto don’t seem to need the business, I’d try to one of...

The lady at the front desk was the rudest person I have ever come across in hospitality. I am not even sure where to begin to explain her abruptness, unwillingness to answer simple questions or cater to paying customers. We were not loud or asking for anything out of the ordinary, we happened to have a 7th person join us and were told we could not all sit together, this was fine we excepted this and said we would split across two tables, we asked if our two tables could be sat behind each other as this was possible given where the spare tables that evening were situated, to be told abruptly this was not possible and they split us across two tables as far away from each other as possible (on purpose). Again not an issue for us, we accepted this but the way this was managed was disgraceful, how we were spoken to was unacceptable, it was also important to note we were not a table of teenagers, which I could possibly understand the reasons behind this. We were a table of aged 50+ professionals having a work dinner. Had we not booked a table upfront and given our card details to make a booking, we would have left instantly without eating. Every single one of our guests eating with us, as soon as they entered the restaurant the first comment they made was how rude the lady and unwelcoming the lady was. When we sat down we all questioned if we should go somewhere else. Absolutely despicable behaviour, this made us order very limited meals and one drink each, rather than enjoying our time here resulting in the restaurant loosing out on a lot of money that we usually spend on our work celebrations. This lady should not be working in a restaurant, especially not front of house!! For our future work dinners given our office is close by we shall not be returning and will be communicating to the rest of our business to neither take clients here or go themselves. Huge mistake to this...