Macellaio RC Clerkenwell — Restaurant in London

Ok 2 stars because the food was ok. But my god, what a nightmare. So, picture this ... You're walking down exmouth market, and you come across what looks like quite a nice venue for your anniversary dinner - you take a glance at the menu ... Steak, £7 per 100g - perfect! This looks reasonable, and cosy, let's go for it. We sit down, the atmosphere is nice. Conversation is flowing, and the waiter comes over to take your drinks order. You glance over the menu and order the house red which you're lead to believe is £23 bottle of merlot ...the wine comes - it's gorgeous, wow what a STEAL for £23. You come to order mains, but before that you think... 'OK let's treat ourselves to some starters'. Olives for £4 and mixed meats for £19... Expensive but so what, it's the anniversary! Shortly after locking in the starters, you're told that you can have steak for your main, BUT...it's a 700g minimum order. (Nowhere on the menu does it state this). So, wave goodbye to your within budget meal and greet in a £25 portion of meat (including the weight of the bone). If you want fries, it'll be an extra tenner please. We sucked it up, what can you do - the olives are already on the table! You enjoy the meat, beautifully cooked - but the sour taste of lies, deceipt, and misleading menu designs are coating my mouth. The whole thing just feels off. The receipt comes... The meat is charged at 720G after telling us is was 700g, charged for the extra 20g of course. The tap water they offered us in an unbranded house caraffe was charged at £3 (these carafes were stored visible and empty behind the bar). The house bottle of wine we ordered was £30 (not £23) , we were later told that the first page of the wine menu was a caraffe menu and not a bottled menu... (of course only told this when presented with the bill). The extra bread they pushed us with our meat platter was an extra £3 and then just before you think you can't take anymore ... slap on a 13% service charge. All starts to feel a bit off, right? If you're looking for a relaxed meal, where you don't want to have to check every corner and crevice of the menu for hidden lies or t&c's, do not come here - unless of course you're willing to remortgage your house for it. Lies upon lies and no care for the customer. I assume they make enough money from ripping off 1st time punters that they don't need to worry about return customers. Because frankly, I reckon they have 0. Rude service, misleading prices and dirty toilets. Do not recommend. Will not be coming back. I almost asked for the service charge back but I decided to bite my tounge and head for a pint down the road instead. An evening ruined and £160 for two people down the...

Not worth the cost, in my opinion.

I went on a Tuesday with my wife having pre-booked because we were using a Gourmet Society Card. We were due at 18:00 and we were the first clients. We were told that we can have the table just for 2 hours because it's booked from 20:00 (when we left at 19:40 the place was still three quarters empty so what was the point in telling us we have 2 hours, on a Tuesday?!)

The starters: prosciutto cotto with gorgonzola and buratta with rocket and cherry tomatoes. The prosciutto was great and perhaps the best thing I've had that night. The buratta, even though it said on the menu it comes with rocket and cherry tomatoes it came with a few leaves of rocket and two quarters of a cherry tomato for a tennis ball sized burrata. My wife asked one of the waiters about the shocking quantity of tomatoes( barely half a cherry tomato), then the waiter proceeded to explain that what we wanted was a caprese salad that comes with tomatoes and that the burrata is different. We knew what we ordered and what it said on the menu so they accommodated us and brought extra tomatoes but I feel they thought were being ridiculous.

The wine: we ordered a rose wine that was £9 per glass and a price of £34 next to it. Turns out that price is not per bottle but per 500ml carafe. The wine wasn't anything to write home about even though for the price it should have been.

The mains: mains were fine-dine sized, I had a hanger steak that was underwhelming but more than that it came with 4 tiny baked potatoes. My wife had pasta all'arrabbiata with guanciale which was good but starter-sized.

The desserts: tiramisu tasted good but had an infuriating lid covered in powdered sugar which is really wasteful and has no utility (check the photos). My wife had a basil pannacotta that was good but really 'basily' we couldn't finish it.

Services: we were served by 4 different people because it was super empty and I guess everyone needed to do something. Which is tough for building rapport and discouraged me from pointing things out. Oh, and the dessert spoons looked really dirty (check photos).

The price: we paid in excess of £40 per person with 25% discount, which is really expensive for the experience. Other steak joints are far better at a similar price.

The décor: five guys meets leather benches and rustic shelving.

It might sound like nitpicking, but I usually rate frequently and highly for places I visit except from when the experience is disconnected...

Where to even start!

I came across this place after my original booking on new years was cancelled last minute. Disaster, it was 10pm and my date was on her way. I was frantically driving around London looking for a place that was 1. Open and 2. Willing to take a table for 2. I stumbled into the restaurant and was greeted by Alessio. A character to say the least but in the most charming, caring special way - Alessio assured me, if I was here before 11pm (on new years!) I would be seated and served. I was so unbelievably reassured and quickly left to go and get my date!

On my return, it was 10:45, once again, walking in this time with a plus 1, I was greeted by Alessio who, Without any level of hesitation (and with a complimentary wink), seated us straight down and made sure we were looked after. Recommendations were made and all questions about the food were answered with great care and with what I can only call the perfect amount of detail (no rambling here!)

Food was ordered and came out in a very reasonable time, Striploin steak and truffle&parmesan chips were ordered with a Parma ham starter to greet us. The Parma Ham and bufala, sensational Parma ham fresh, not too fatty and cool. The bufala enough to compliment the plate of ham and delicious (recommend a drizzle of the complimentary olive oil) amazing. Onto the main, the steak, It was cooked to our liking, soft and presented lovingly and seasoned perfectly. The chips doused in a meaningful sprinkle of parmesan and truffle and not a stingy amount of truffle was used either. An option of Mayo/ketchup was offered also - we chose the mayo which appeared to be made in house, fluffy and delicious!!

What an experience is all I can say, honestly I feel like we were treated like royalty and I can only thank Alessio for that. Saved my night (and dignity) for sure.

We will...