Osteria Antica Bologna — Restaurant in London

I’m afraid to say we had a disappointing meal. I took my wife there for an engagement dinner that we weren’t able to have because of covid. We booked our reservation the night of, so I’ll preface this by saying it’s not like it was an evening planned far in advance. My wife is Italian so chose this place with high expectations.

The antipasti was decent, good bread.

But the mains were on the whole disappointing. I had the venison special which was nicely plated but hardly tasted of anything at all. No hint whatsoever of venison such that it very well could have been beef tinderloins. Though I will say the mushrooms were pretty tasty.

However, my wife was much less happy: she ordered the wild boar pasta which was quite watery to the point where there was something resembling a soup at the bottom of the plate. She remains very upset at this.

The service was okay but I made a point to say this was a special occasion and was hoping for some amari at the end or something and was hopeful they’d give me a menu but that didn’t happen. Nor were they prepared to engage with my wife in Italian, even though there was a table beside us with an Italian whom the restaurant staff were happy to converse with in Italian.

That said they did give us a little limoncello at the end but my understanding is that’s typical for anyone dining at an osteria.

I feel pretty disappointed because it was supposed to be a nice occasion but it felt a bit slapdash. Perhaps I should have been more forward about my expectations, but that aside the mains really were disappointing.

I have no doubt this osteria makes great food. It’s a shame though because I’m sure we were just unlucky. They were quite busy on Friday night. But it dampened our celebratory vibes a...

Everybody needs a good neighbourhood Italian!

Thankfully this is just what Osteria - Antica Bologna is. We first came across it at the beginning of the year on one of those rare sunny days when it was actually possible to sit outside (albeit wrapped up warmly) and enjoy their 2 course lunch special for £15. They also offer three courses for £17. Both of our starters (bruschetta for me) and mains (pasta for the missus and pork belly) were so good that we decided to bring my parents when they came to town about a month later. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse so we were sat inside this time. No matter as the service was (once again) kind and attentive and my pan fried hake was delicious, as was the seafood spaghetti the others had. At the beginning of the month we went back with friends (and a dog and a child) and nothing was too much trouble. We had to sit outside because of the pooch, but they quickly offered us a dog bowl and water and ensured that the little guy's food arrived first. The adults had a great meal and wonderful bottle of red wine from a very good and very reasonably priced wine list for a local restaurant (always a good sign And then we went back last week again as it was getting late and neither of us had been able to get out of work early enough to do the shopping. We weren't hungry enough to start diving into the starters and desserts, but just selected a main each (both of them daily specials) and they were great as usual. Meltingly tender fillet of beef with cannellini beans and spinach for me and a lovely lobster spaghetti for my wife. You've got loyal customers in us as long as you keep up this level of cooking and your warm and friendly service. Thank...

1. Burrata it was half? Never seen it in my 30 years that I remember myself eating out in several countries
2. Arancini no flavour at least put some salt
3. Wild boar Ragu pasta . Sauce was not reduced properly (watery). Me thinking was either defrosted or they made it really quick which is not what a ragu is. No flavour and a tone of fresh parsley on top. Also the pasta was far from al dente.
4. Thats another first time ever. They brought the ‘secondi’ (its called secondi cause by definition it comes second) a tagliata (steak) in the middle of the table with the pasta. In Italy as friend said thats borderline insulting to the cuisine basically you take your coat and leave. As for the secondi it was undercooked for a tagliata.(this is coming from someone who likes fillet steak rare and ribeye medium rare)
5. Lastly pricing. If you want to charge 70 per head in Clapham with 1 glass of basic wine per person you should seriously reconsider what you serve . Again I dont mind at all paying 100-150 quid for a good dinner but that was ridiculous vs the quality.

My explanation:

I get it Clapham (never been before in my 11 years in London) has a decent crowd (mainly English mid+ class) who has money to spend on a night out (bar pricing was mayfair and west london level). That doesn't mean you should adjust your kitchen thinking that the crowd you are serving doesnt know how Italian food tastes. We did that in Greece from the 80s onwards and it...