Grasso — Restaurant in London

I had been waiting to try here for ages but ultimately left disappointed. The food was decent and the portions were well sized. Unfortunately we were let down with how the restaurant dealt with an incident that occurred during our meal.

The waiter unfortunately spilled one of the glasses of red wine all over what was left of our Chicken Parm, which had a good 1/3 of it left. It was an accident and no harm was done, the food was taken away and we assumed it would be dealt with appropriately. In any normal top London restaurant this would likely be a concession for the Chicken Parm on the bill, this meal was the highlight of our dinner and we absolutely had wished to finish it. Given the fact they offered all other tables around us takeaway boxes, then even if this wasn’t finished on the night, this would have been expected.

As is standard practice, the restaurant would usually take full acceptance for their mistake and the affected item would be removed from the bill.

The waiter apologised profusely, brought over a glass of red wine, which was a nice gesture but was obviously incomparable to the bottle of wine we had ordered, and two limoncello shots (which were brought to most if not all tables) as an apology. As I stated, this was a nice gesture, but we’d already had enough to drink and what we really wanted was the full portions of the food.

When the bill came, I was surprised to see we were charged full price for everything, including the Chicken Parm that we were unable to finish or take home due to the restaurants error. When the manager came to talk with us, I was completely and utterly taken aback when the first thing he asked us was ‘well how much of it did you eat?’ I stated that there was a good 1/3 left but this wasn’t the point, we didn’t want more drinks, we wanted to finish it. He stated that there was nothing that the restaurant could do and left, I was astounded, I’ve never been somewhere that wouldn’t do everything in their power to make right on a mistake that was their own fault. After going away for a couple of minutes he then came back to say he had also offered us the garlic bread free as a token, but this still somewhat missed the point that we had to send back a full 1/3 of the highlight of the meal, it was not about money, it was about the experience. I already felt very let down.

The restaurant is lively, buzzing and packed all night, but they need to not become a victim of their own success and not let greed take over. Overall even if the food was decent, I leave with the overriding feeling of being...

Having heard all about the hype of this place on socials, I was really excited that I finally had the chance to try it out myself.

I came here for dinner with a friend on a Tuesday evening having made a reservation before and it's indeed quite busy even on a week day evening. The restaurant is massive with plenty of seating available both up and downstairs and the vibes are definitely a little different with dimmer lighting downstairs where we were seated. Gotta say though the vibes weren't the best because the tables were extremely packed next to each other and the noise level was high to a point that me and my friend had to low key shout in order to talk.

Food wise everything was fantastic and just as expected which I was very happy about. We went with the deep fried mozzarella cheese sticks as a starter and they were lovely. Nicely battered and perfectly fried with the longest cheese pull ever. Loved the hot honey and n'duja sauce they created to go alongside the cheese, nicely balancing out the creaminess and slight heaviness in the cheese. A super solid starter. For mains, we shared the chicken parm with fries and the pepperoni pizza with hot honey. Both were fantastic but we both preferred the pizza a lot more as the chicken was a little bland. Don't think the meat itself was seasoned much before frying although the batter was thin and the portion size was huge. We enjoyed the tomato sauce poured on too of the chicken parm, it was super fresh and slightly sweet. The fries were absolutely top-notch, super hot still when served and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The pizza was delightful, the crust was so soft and fluffy with a slight crunch and the portion size once again was huge. Nonetheless, we would have appreciated much more hot honey to counter the overly salty pepperoni.

Service was good overall but we did have to wait over 30 minutes between the starter and the mains. We were getting confused as to why everyone else next to us was served their food even though they arrived after us and we had to chase a staff member only for them to take the food out to us straight after which we therefore suspected had been sitting in the kitchen for a while. This was bad service on their end although they did keep the food warm as everything was piping hot when it got to our table.

Overall, we enjoyed our time here despite the slight hiccup in service and would be very happy to come back soon and try other things...

Wow! I'd had Grasso on my list to visit since it popped up on my instagram feed and it was definitely worth the wait. I love traditional Italian food so wasn't sure what to expect from an American twist on the cuisine but Grasso does it so well. All of the dishes were delicious and flavoursome. Plus the portions are huge! There was plenty for us to share and try each others choices. For starter we had a selection of mozzarella sticks and burrata. I will normally not order burrata outside of Italy as so hard to get a good one but this was perfect. The Italians would be outraged but we ordered some garlic bread to mop up the rest of the burrata once we'd finished. It was served with tomatoes which were beautifully sweet. The mozzarella sticks were definitely American style with a long cheese pull and just the right amount of spice in the 'nduja sauce which was offset with the honey. Main course choices were chicken parm, penne alla vodka and mom's spaghetti. The chicken parm was the largest piece of chicken I had ever seen and cooked perfectly. The penne alla vodka was the perfect balance between the rich tomato sauce with a hint of vodka and chilli. But, the star of the show was Grasso's famous mom's spaghetti with meatballs. It was a traditional American take on a classic and done so well. Only a couple of us had room for dessert and opted for tiramisu. The slice looked huge when it came out but it was so light so the plate was finished! Grasso has a small menu which I usually think means everything on it will be done well and it certainly was in this case. It's hard to know what to choose, which is a great reason to go as a group so you can try each others! As well as the amazing food, every member of staff is attentive and friendly. The decor in the restaurant is relaxing, as is the music. However, when you go downstairs to the bathrooms, it's party time! Disco lights and even a DJ! I can't wait to visit again. The only thing that would have improved the experience would have been if they sold the crockery as I'd have loved one of their...