Caminata — Restaurant in London

This is not an angry review - it's a sad one. Because I really wanted to love this place, but my disappointment was huge. I visited with my boyfriend on a Friday night. We were offered seats and had just 1 menu dropped at the table, which we shared to choose our food. Then a long time later the waitress came to us - without a hello or a smile - asking if we wanted to order drinks, for which I replied we were not given the drinks menu. She walked away, got another menu and literally throw it at the table before walking away again. When she came back, again without a smile or anything, she simply asked "are you ready?". I had a long day at work and tried not to bother too much with that, so we just ordered our wine and food straight away. Another waiter came later bringing the food, which was also simply dropped at our table before he walked away fast. I wasn't offered parmesan to my risotto, which I really needed to try to get some taste out of it, so had to call the waiter again. I struggle to understand how an Italian restaurant can offer such a horrible mushroom risotto. It didn't taste any different from any ready made Unble Ben's you get at Tesco. Absolutely tasteless. My boyfriend got a nice dishe with chicken and vegetables and was also disappointed. We had our plates taken away immediately after finishing, which gave me the impression we were being rushed out. I actually thought the service was so bad because they were very busy, but then I looked around and saw a few empty tables, so that wasn't even the busiest they can get. I wonder how they treat customers when they have full house... Anyway, after my tiny portion of awful risotto I was still hungry (we weren't given time to choose a starter, after all), but decided not to order any dessert as I thought it would be another disappointment. My boyfriend went ahead and ordered a tiramissu, which I tried and was ok. Worth to mention the wine was also really nice. But the food and the service were so bad (the bill also took forever to arrive when we asked), I don't plan going back there, specially when there are so many good Italian restaurants around. I don't like writing negative reviews, but I think I should let other people...

It's surprising to see how many good Italian restaurants I could find in South London. I found this little gem just a few minutes away from Balham underground station and was impressed with the quality of the food and how authentic the food feels. I've tried the antipasto with mozzarella, olives and salami, speck and Parma ham. These meats were clearly just sliced as the consistency was really tender and soft, something you can perceive when you touch it and ultimately taste. The melanzane alla parmigiana were also good and the arancini, served with a special dip, were extremely good. As a main I tried their pizza. This is not the Neapolitan style of pizza, this is more for people who like a thin and more crispy pizza, more typical in centre/Northern regions in Italy. Also worth noticing I asked the special dough, which is basically the same dough with the addition of vegetable charcoal, which confers the crust a black colour and it's an interesting take on pizza even from an "artistic" point of view. For dessert I had a tiramisu which was also very good, although I had the chance to try also a strawberry cheesecake and despite not being a type of dessert which would be typical for an Italian restaurant, was absolutely rich in flavour and probably my number one choice. Staff was helpful and knowledgeable (all Italians, based on my experience there) and the decor and atmosphere was quite cozy and intimate. I would definitely recommend dining here and will definitely go back at La Caminata again...

We were recommended to come here by a friend. The restaurant is slightly hidden, in a fairly peaceful location, at the edge of a more residential area, just at the end of the "high street".

The atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty cool and welcoming and you can sit outside as well, which we did.

The staff was super welcoming, kind and polite. They helped with recommendations and were flexible when it came to swapping toppings on the pizza.

We ordered a starter and two mains. The starter was a burrata (£11) which was pretty pricey, especially considering the size with a very limited amount of bread and tomatoes on the side but it was not a big issue.

The two mains we ordered was a pizza & pasta. The pizza was lovely, the sauce tasted good, and the size was decent. The dough was actually pretty good too.

The pasta portion was also all right, it was certainly fresh and nice, but the flavour could have been a bit more exciting. The presentation was also nice.

The overall experience was good, but I felt like the food could have been just a tiny bit better for the price. The restaurant also has a takeaway menu with fairly reasonably priced options (£7/portions) which sounds great but it is strictly takeaway.

I would consider coming back overall and maybe try...