Darling's Eatery — Restaurant in London

Rating: 1.5/5

Visited on Saturday, 16 August, with family to celebrate my cousin’s 20th birthday. Sadly, the meal didn’t live up to the occasion.

Starters • Cod polpette (2.5/5): Nice crisp vs soft texture, but flavour was flat; cod indistinct and the herb oil added little. • Zucchini fritters (3.5/5): Best starter; well-cooked, but weighed down by a mayo-like sauce and oily richness. • Burrata with honey & truffle (1.5/5): Honey overwhelmed everything, burrata bland, truffle hardly present and clashed when it did appear. Poor value at ~£13. • Focaccia (3.5/5): Decent, but nothing standout. Pricey at £5 compared to other restaurants.

Mains • Herb gnocchi (0/5): Overcooked to mush; sauce resembled thinned-out mash. Couldn’t finish. • Mafaldine with leek/sausage ragu (4/5): Highlight of the night; fennel notes balanced the sausage beautifully. • Orecchiette (2.5/5): Acceptable but forgettable. • Linguine with clams (3/5): Enjoyable overall, though pushed too salty.

Dessert • Tiramisu (2/5): Pretty presentation and thoughtful birthday candle, but dense cream lacking lightness; ladyfingers under-soaked with espresso, leaving the whole dish heavy and one-note.

Service Service felt oddly frosty throughout, which is hard to pinpoint. Staff did kindly add a candle to the tiramisu, which was appreciated. However, when we were playfully debating who should pay, a member of staff abruptly told us to sit down and later brought the machine to the wrong person. Small moments like this could have been handled with warmth and humour, but instead left the interaction flat and slightly dismissive.

Overall Aside from the mafaldine, the food ranged from underwhelming to poorly executed. Coupled with the chilly service, this made for a disappointing experience. Sadly, I wouldn’t return and couldn’t recommend it as good value or a reliable...

A new pasta restaurant and pasta-making class venue. We went to the restaurant on a busy and warm Friday evening for dinner.

Food was excellent, pasta perfectly cooked and tasty, and portions okay for the price point.

The customer experience hasn’t matched up. Maybe our experience has been an outlier compared to other reviewers. Our first attempt to book (some months before this visit) was cancelled at short notice with minimal explanation; the restaurant said they would call back the next week to rebook but didn’t. The waitress seemed confused about what to do with us when we arrived - we made a late booking on OpenTable. We then sat at the counter for a good few minutes before being given the menu. Another pair of guests moved to a table outside so we were offered the chance to move to the counter area near the window where they were sitting. We took this up. We waited an hour for the mains to arrive (it was busy - I think the limiting factor was the kitchen’s capacity to produce food). The waitress initially approached us with mains that were ordered by the guests previously sitting in our seats. We had to ask for the bean salad when the mains arrived (I think it might have been forgotten about). The bill had two extra glasses of wine on it which were promptly removed - probably from the guests that we switched tables with.

Any of these issues in isolation could be shrugged off - as teething issues, the restaurant being really busy, or just misfortune on the night - but the accumulation of them points to some issues with training and approach to service in my opinion. But, overall, we would probably go back at some point for the great pasta.

In terms of atmosphere the vibe is woody, beige, neat,...

Absolutely brilliant new neighbourhood gem in Hackney Wick! The pasta was delicious, such a variety of flavours and different types of pasta and sauces. We had the Gnudi as a starter to share, very interesting and tasteful combination with the hazelnuts and ricotta! Then we had 3 main pasta dishes, I particularly enjoyed the pasta with a super rich, almost sweet tomato sauce (you could tell the tomatoes were so fresh!) and of course the burrata was the cherry on top! So yummy! I would recommend the tiramisu as a dessert, perfect mix of rich and creamy mascarpone as well as full of flavours thanks to the lady fingers and the cacao layer on top!

A very cosy yet super stylish restaurant with a very welcoming, cosy feel and great service. Pretty much feels like being invited to a wonderful dinner at a chic friend's place.

Good to know: Our two small dogs were welcomed with open arms and everyone was very friendly and accommodating!

A little bit on the pricier side but also, the quality of the food and the beautiful atmosphere are totally worth it!

I'll be back...