Rosmarino — Restaurant in London

Disgraceful behaviour from this restaurant.

The restaurant called me 20 minutes after the expected delivery time to say that they had run out of red mullet and would like to offer an alternative. I rejected the alternative because I only wanted the dish with the red mullet and in any case, I had to leave my house at that point and couldn't afford to wait another 30+ minutes. They agreed they would cancel the order for me. I then left my house.

10 minutes later, they called back to say they had miraculously "found" the red mullet and wanted to deliver the order to me. I explained that I had left my house at this point and also found it suspicious that they could have found something they advised just 10 minutes earlier had run out. I received a phonecall from the delivery driver later that evening to say that they were at my door, attempting to make a delivery.

I told him to leave it there as he became very agitated at the prospect of returning the dish to the restaurant and in any case, it wasn't his fault. I returned home later that night. I had to throw the dish away as it wasn't safe to eat something unrefridgerated for many hours. And I checked the dish for good measure - lo and behold, no red mullet. Some scraps of unidentifiable fish, perhaps the scrapings from their freezer.

I have frequented this restaurant many times but I will not be returning after being treated so poorly.

Update in response to owner -

I'm afraid the owner's response is a complete misrepresentation of the situation. The only reason I am responding once more is out of principle. The timings you have stated are patently incorrect - the order was placed at 5.50pm and I received a call at 6.33pm to inform me there was no mullet left and I would need to cancel the order. Only upon my insistence that the restaurant cancel the order - refusing to cancel the order myself, as i'd get charged by the delivery platform - did you take 10 minutes to miraculously locate the mullet "in the other fridge", by which point, i'd left my house. The order arrived at my house at 7.10pm, 1hr and 20 minutes after placing the order initially and was left outside my house to spoil. I repeat, the mullet in the dish could best be described as flakes of fish. I have ordered the dish previously, which costs £16+, and received chunks of mullet. Instead of accepting your mistake on this occassion, and offering to put it right, you've palmed your terrible customer service (and frankly, terrible behaviour) onto a loyal customer. Please read reviews of Iona Frith-Fletcher - "non-fresh fish" - which corroborate my story of Rosmarino...

Venue is sweet, but the constant distraction from delivery drivers was unwelcome. I recognise that delivery can be a significant income stream, but it really detracts from the experience.

Service time between courses was excessive, half an hour at least. Nobody should be left waiting that long.

The food presentation was on point, a feast for the eyes.

Burata was simple. Was served without condiments or bread, with a thin layer of broadbean puree. Very plain. I can't image how the chef would expect someone to enjoy a burata practicality on its own. Adequate bread and condiment should have been included

Fish stew was well presented, but the showpiece langostine wasnt edible. The tomato sauce / soup was mild and unimpressive, I didn't sense any chilli and could be forgiven for not realising garlic was in the recipe (only after reconsulting the menu). Overall an unimpressive starter despite the grand appearance.

Hake was nicely presented but lacked seasoning, a tad overcooked and edging on the dry side, again additional seasoning would have given it a boost.

Duck was beautifully cooked and tender. The dressing was pleasant but lost its impact as it was sparse, it would have benefitted from an accompanying sauce or dressing. Perhaps something sweet.

Sides were ok. Somewhat small portions.

Wine was nice, easy to drink and very reasonably priced.

When asked for the condiments, a bottle of lidl balsamic was brought to the table. I've bought this in the past and consigned it to the drain, watery, sharply acidic (yes i know its acetic acid), and not fit to be sold as balsamic vinegar, let alone presented in a restaurant that offers £35 steak. Please upgrade to at least sainsbury's balsamic, your customers will be grateful 🙂

Overall a rather disappointing experience. So much hope, based on the reviews, of having found a gem.

Has lots of potential, but unfortunately, sorry to say our experience...

My husband would probably rate this place 4 stars, but I’ve gone for 3 stars as I was sorely disappointed and didn’t think the food was anything special at all! First of all we had been wanting to come to this restaurant for a long time, but due to its popularity were a bit disappointed with its 1.5 hour evening slot…nonetheless we came with high expectations, the menu looked interesting so we were hoping the food would be the best Italian we had ever had locally. Sadly not. We had the yummy tapenade and breads to start off with, but it kind of went downhill after that. My husband’s side dish of crispy mushrooms tasted a bit weird, like they were baked in chunky breadcrumbs with no added flavours? My husband enjoyed his main dish of slow roasted pasta with crispy aubergines, he said it was ‘nice’ but I sadly could not say the same about my veal cannelloni. :( It came out so hot I couldn’t eat it for a while and then when I did manage to get to it; it was just full of white bechamel sauce and a few dices of meat (a few not much) and tasted of nothing more? I regretted ordering it but there was no time to re-order, plus I noticed no one asked us once if the food was ok! The restaurant is so busy they don’t have time for customer service (unfortunately) and it’s also so tight in there my husband got knocked on the shoulder and elbows (by staff) several times :( At the end of my main course most of it was left, but again the staff didn’t ask me once if there was a problem?! Very unusual. The homemade ice cream and panacotta made up for an ok-bad meal but then we were given the bill before we asked for it as they needed the table back. I won’t be coming back here ever and would recommend Ciullosteria restaurant instead (a more humble Italian restaurant with more traditional dishes in the next town in Balham) over...