Circolo Popolare — Restaurant in London

A real shame! The food was fantastic, really tasty and the quantity of it was somewhat equal to the value. However the service was dreadful. I attended with friends for a birthday dinner. Our drinks were taken at the beginning but it took ages for them to arrive, when they did they handed a Coke Zero to us and for £4.5 you would expect a big glass, instead they gave us what looked like a 200ml glass bottle and filled the glass with ice. The cocktails were impressive but for a similar price it makes you question where they’re getting their mark up from. We also had to repeatedly ask for tap water to be brought to our table which at one point took 16 minutes to arrive, after the second time asking. Once the 2 bottles of water were brought to our table, we poured it into our glasses and the bottle was half full, a waiter came along and picked it up without asking us and we assumed they were going to refill it but we saw them refill it and take it to another table. So again we had to ask for more water. It was extremely warm in there, air conditioning should be improved. It was a hot day in London at around 26 degrees, so water is a very basic request. We had to repeatedly ask for the waiters to get us more drinks. The only time they checked on us was once following the mains being brought out. We had the set menu as we were a group of 8 and one positive was they were very accommodating about us needing veggie/vegan and non-pork options (once small piece of advice is to ask for dietary requirements alongside asking for allergies because we told them no allergies when they asked but were not prompted about the dietary requirements so we had to tell them this and they brought the manager to discuss and the manager sorted it quickly). However when clearing the dishes from the table, a fork covered in tomato sauce was dropped onto one of the group, staining her top. The waiter apologies but they were stacking about 5 big bowls and dishes and really it was a silly thing to do, we understood it was an accident but often when this happens good service would have brought a cloth or apologised or given a complimentary drink or something. When we arrived we told the staff it was a surprise birthday dinner for one of our group and they said they would do candles on the dessert which sounded great! We even saw a couple of other tables receive this during the evening. However when the dessert was brought out there were no candles, they had forgotten. It was just another thing to add to the poor service we experienced. When the bill was brought over we asked for the tip to be taken off and they did without question. Considering how large the tip was, we would have expected maybe a manager to come over and discuss this with us however they did not so we left. Very disappointing experience as I’ve been before and the service was good but we all agreed that the service was not worth paying for, only the food was the stand out. There are better authentic Italian...

Managed to snag a weekday reservation with a few friends. One of the most gorgeous restaurant interiors I’ve ever been in. Beautifully ordained ceilings with fairly lights engrossed in green vines and of course the iconic walls decorated with thousands of drink bottles. The restaurant is also much larger than images would lead to believe and our table was actually at the far back in a wide open area and we had a glimpse of a very lovely looking outdoor seating area as well. The tableware is all very lovely too but we noticed many were a bit chipped or slightly dirty upon arrival.

This is the second of the Big Mamma restaurants I have visited (the other being Gloria) and is definitely an improvement. From the sides we had their focaccia, deep-fried stracchino, courgette salad, beef leg carpaccio, and beef tartare. Everything tasted great with the beef tartare and deep-fried stracchino sticks being standouts. The beef leg carpaccio was good but had a slight fruitiness which I’m not too sure if is to my taste. Based on experience I would go for some of their other cured meat options but their beef tartare is a must.

From the mains we had the truffle pasta which I had at Gloria as well. This does not come with a wheel of cheese at Circolo (that is now reserved for their carbonara) but means you can order a single portion. Whilst somewhat bland at Gloria, here it was a delight and was a favourite among my group. We also had their veal ragu pasta which was excellent and might have been favourite pasta I’ve had yet from Big Mamma. We also had their chicken skewers which came with crispy smashed potatoes and aubergine. This was good and came with decent variety. From the veggie options we had the spring fling pizza and the crispy breaded aubergine. The latter was fantastic and an excellent vegan option. The pizza however was not to my taste at all since it was adorned with many of their house olives which are quite strong. However, other members of my group did enjoy it so only order if you are sure to like their olives.

Lastly, from dessert we had their strawberry tomato salad and their profiterole. Both were great and the strawberry salad was a nice fresh finish to the meal. I would say that their lemon meringue pie is still probably the best dessert along with their cheesecake (which was unfortunately not available here).

Service was good, sometimes a bit muddled when taking additional orders and at one point gave us sparkling instead of tap water. Quite nice overall though. Overall, would definitely recommend trying if you can get a reservation but wouldn’t say it’s worth booking months in advance unless you want a real showstopping experience for...

Why this restaurant is so popular on Instagram- the moment you step in you understand as it’s one of the most prettiest restaurant in London. Its’s aesthetically gorgeous. This restaurant is quite busy so a walk in stands no chance & even it’s better to book in advance.

With its ambient, dim light, and lovely decor with countless bottles it yields a great decor & vibe.

However, I found light too dim to read the menu so they need to invest in printing better menu with bolder font size and colour.

Staff were really courteous, friendly yet professional. They were very attentive to clear up, and our order was brought within 10 minutes (quite fast service, we took more time in deciding what to order )

We had ordered Coco Loco & Amore Piccante in non alcoholic drinks. Drinks were decent but I really felt that drinks had a lot more ice than required and amount of drink was really not adequate.

We are vegetarians, while booking restaurant we didn’t realise V with a * means cheese that has animal rennet so for us options reduced further more & we ordered few dishes suitable for vegans.

In food, we had ordered Foccacia , Trio di olive ( one of the best & fresh olives I had ever eaten) , Stracciatella E Porro, Cavolfiore Alla Mediterranea, Crazy San Marzano, Rocket Man. Food was decent being vegan & vegetarian but I would have really loved more flavours & options.

In dessert, we had ordered Donatella banana . It was massive massive portion, so good for sharing.

It was my son’s birthday so they presented him card at reception which was a lovely gesture.

On table, they were bringing dessert (or maybe some bigger ordered dessert ) singing happy birthday, however that didn’t happen for us. So I would really suggest them to do this for some specific ordered dessert. Even in Ivy they give an option (for a dessert of £11 to make it celebratory in extra £2 & present it in a case) So here dessert was already £12, a small birthday touch even at extra price would have been appreciated if not free small portion like old days or on paid dessert.

Though we didn’t mind that in comparison to total bill amount , they also charged £1.99 for payment via QR code which we saw later, I guess that should be informed decision for customers.

For me, winning point was ambience & service. I am not sure on food point though & with these limited options, I am not sure I will be visiting again. I also want to give kudos to them as they have clearly marked dishes that contains cheese with animal rennet, making it suitable for pure vegetarians, not every place is that...