Piccolo Ristorante — Restaurant in London

The rudest customer service I have ever experienced in my 40 years of life! Firstly I was accused of being a liar when I initially booked a table for 13 people and gave the requested £50 deposit, because at a later date, the restaurant demanded £130 deposit, as they 'claimed' that I had only booked a table for 5 people. During our meal, my aunty got her head bitten off for asking if there was cream in the white sauce. She was made to feel stupid in front of everyone for even asking, because apparently cream is NEVER served with seafood here, but she wasn't to know! We called ahead to ask if we could serve my mum a birthday cake, which was agreed to if we also ordered restaurant desserts, but the waitress at the time couldn't be bothered to light all of the FOUR candles of the cake and lit only 2 in front of my mum's face and whilst waking off as we sang happy 69th birthday. We were given the bill which presented a scrawly hand written total. I asked if we could have an itemised bill so that we could check our order and split our bill accordingly amongst the group, but again my head was bitten off for even asking. I was repremanded like a little girl in front of the party and told that I should've asked for the bill to be itemised at the start of our sitting...not to forget that I was addressed as 'bella' several times during this interaction in the most patronising way (by non-Italians may I say, because my husband is Italian, therefore there is no cultural affiliation here). My brother had also asked to sample a dessert wine before placing an order for a glass, only to be rudely refused and obviously mocked and laughed at by immature waitresses. I won't even start on the mediocre, overpriced food (wilted-on the verge of going off-side salad garnish, about 5 mini pieces of microwaved broccoli florets served as a £6 side and soggy pasta) to say the least! Pre-COVID I had been to this restaurant several times and vouched for their food and service. However, sadly on this occasion, my family and I were faced with nothing more than insult, rudeness, patronistion and embarrassment. AVOID,...

It's a real disappointment to have to change my review because we've been coming here for years and it's always been pretty great. However today has to be one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had booking a restaurant. I had a table reserved (well in advance) for a late family lunch today at 2PM. When I had originally called and reserved, the lady taking the reservation never flagged that there might be any issues and happily took the reservation. Unfortunately we ran a bit late as my daughter's nap overran. When we got in the car we immediately phoned the restaurant to let them know we were running late and would get there at 2.15. The lady who answered told us that the kitchen is closing at 2.15 so told us that we would need to order as soon as we arrive. Not 2 minutes later, a man called back and told us abruptly that he can't keep his staff waiting for us and implied that we are always late, which is a bizarre accusation since firstly we're not regular enough at this restaurant for them to know our punctuality habits and usually my wife books the table as opposed to me on this occasion so they wouldn't likely even have me on some kind of record. Anyway the whole thing was just bizarre and I really don't understand why a restaurant would take a 5 person reservation for 15 minutes before their kitchen closes, at least without some significant warning. It suggests to me that they are struggling these days to run an organised operation and some of their most recent reviews echo similar thoughts. Such as shame as this place has been an institution...

This is my third or fourth visit.

It’s the “local” Italian and my review is very much based with that in mind. Piccolo has a family friendly and inviting atmosphere. I managed to get a walk-in on this occasion but I highly recommend making a reservation, it’s a very small place.

They have a very extensive menu - some people may find this off putting (tourist-trap like) but don’t be. Each time I have dined here, the food has been exceptional. It is fresh, it is well seasoned and it is real Italian food. I was even brave enough to bring my friend, who was visiting from Northern Italy (Torento) and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

On this occasion we ordered calamari, prawns on avocado, garlic bread and the seafood linguine - we polished off every last bit and momentarily thought of ordering more on the back of how delicious it was, alas the stomachs were not able for it.

The service, far from fine dining or even attentive but it’s just as you would expect - friendly and accommodating.

Niggles - tables are very closely packed, but I get they want to squeeze in as many patrons as they can given it’s size. The hot water had an awful residue - which was simply fobbed off on the back of a new coffee machine.

I do look forwards to...