Terra Rossa — Restaurant in London

This was highly recommended to us by the Italian concierge at San Leonardo hotel next door. “Cuisine like my mama make” he says with his charming imperfect English. I wanted to ask him if the food was better than the Italian team’s performance which lost last week to Spain but my instincts and experience told me never joke about Italian national team when you’re speaking to an Italian. The restaurant is bearly noticeable, located in the backstreets of Saint Pauls. Large windows run across the front side restaurant overlooking the small quaint road and a burgundy leather seating against the wall is combined with rustic wooden tables and chairs. The whole restaurant has an understated elegance to it and a lovely summer evening buzz was immediately noticeable. I walked in with my wife and immediately the manager greeted me warmly. Paolo I thought I heard him say. I asked for the prime table right next to the bar facing the window. “But I am sitting there” he says, quickly followed by “never mind!” As he unplugs laptop. The Wine list arrives, and I am impressed that he has a house pour sparkling wine from puglia: the medeto Classico, light peach and decent acidity at a modest 58 pounds. I started chatting with the owner to find most of his cuisine comes from his home region of puglia & well known for their apulian cuisine : think cheeses, vegetables, seafood with a healthy dose of olive oil. To the orders: TROFIETTE ALLA CORSARA £21: very tasty although the double cream tomato base gets you filled quickly. My wife had their speciality pasta APULIAN FRESH ORECCHIETTE WITH HOMEMADE BEEF MEATBALLS £17.5 which she claims was unique and outstanding. Given the good portions of both the pastas we were quite full. The sparkling wine was essential to counter the rather heavy meal. Very much enjoyed the evening and will be back! I do recommend this for first dates if you’re willing to take the...

Where do I start, I stumbled across this hidden gem that opened just over a week ago. From the moment my friend and I walked in we were met with the warmest reception from the staff like we were old family friends. The restaurant itself is very sleek and modern in style but with a comfortable & relaxed décor & vibe to the place. The smells when we walked in wafting from the kitchen were enough to let me know that we were in a good spot.

Our waiters were friendly, and attentive and had a great knowledge of the menu & subsequent wine & drinks & made some great suggestions as to what to try yet not overbearing or made us feel like they were being pushy.

I started with an exquisite dish with fresh octopus, bruschetta with wild mushrooms & a salmon carpaccio which was packed with incredible flavour yet so well balanced and subtle that my only complaint was that I wanted more.

The main was freshly made pasta ( in house daily ) with an Octopus ragu & gnocchi with a sea urchin cream ( I must point out this was gluten free as advised by our waiter ) as I’m intolerant and was one of the most beautiful dishes I’ve ever had.

The dessert was a pasticciotto leccese, a famous dessert from Puglia the restaurant’s owner originated from. WOW!!!!

The service was attentive the décor fresh and comfortable balanced in perfect measure, a great menu & wine list and an amazing atmosphere that made me feel like I was on a small back street in an Italian village rather than St Pauls in the middle of London. Five star is a minimum i can rate this...

Tried it recently for a family lunch. We shared a couple of appetizers and a main course each. The food was overall good; if I were to base my review solely on the food, it would give a pretty high rating. The focaccia was excellent and worthy of mention: thick, soft, and very light. Unfortunately, the acoustics in the restaurant are terrible; I would not recommend this place for a quiet lunch. Furthermore, we happened to be sitting next to a table of 10-15 people who literally shouted throughout our meal, making it impossible to communicate with my family. The room at the level below ground is quite small and the people at this table were clearly disturbing everyone, not just my table.

When I pointed out to the restaurant staff that the people at this table were shouting so loudly that I couldn't speak to the person in front of me, they told me they couldn't do anything about it since these noisy (and somehow rude) people were regular Clients of the restaurant. Sub-message: They are regular Clients, they drink a lot (and therefore pay a lot), so we let them make all the mess they want. I don't think I'll...