L`aragosta — Restaurant in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

We visited Laragosta on 22nd February 2025 for a farewell meal before moving to London. The food was great, and the waiter was excellent. The food was reasonably priced, and we also gave a tip to the waiter for his service. However, I became severely ill within 24 hours and had to be hospitalized, ending up on a drip with morphine, anti-sickness medication, and fluids. The hospital attributed my illness to the oysters I had as a starter as this was the only food I had different to my partner over the entire weekend.

We informed the restaurant to prevent others from getting sick and they confirmed that oysters were removed from the menu for the foreseeable future. They offered us a refund or a voucher, to which we accepted the refund as we were relocating. Despite multiple follow-ups and visits, including sharing my bank details twice as requested by the restaurant, we received no refund. On 12th March, Antonio from Laragosta contacted us on his private mobile number and assured us of a refund and an apology email, but by 15th March, nothing had been received. Further messages and calls went unanswered.

On 23rd March, I rang the restaurant again as we’d heard nothing, and a month had passed. They said they’d deal with the matter ‘tomorrow’…. which was becoming a theme…! I then received a WhatsApp message saying the restaurant found no fault and offered a voucher, which was unsuitable as we were relocating. When we visited again (third time since the incident), we asked to speak to the owner who refused to discuss the matter. He asked us to take this outside, which seemed odd as we didn’t want to discuss this on the streets, at which point he called the police (on loudspeaker in front of paying customers).

I was extremely upset by the lack of accountability and the way we were treated. The customer service is dreadful, I’ve never experienced anything like it. I understand locals visit here and have had different experiences, but please just be careful. I’m in my 30’s and I was in a wheelchair in hospital. If this happens to a child or an elderly person, things could have ended differently.

After spending 7 hours in A&E at Heartlands Hospital and taking further days off work to recover, I would not recommend dining...

Three of us visited for a celebration and reserved online. Upon arrival we were greeted nicely and shown to our table at the rear of the restaurant. Last time we visited L'aragosta it was just the small front of the shop and small upstairs, now it has a large rear reastaurant too and it was well decorated and furnished. We had called ahead and asked if they served non alcoholic Prosseco, unfortunately they didn't but if we wanted to bring our own there was a £10 surgharge. The meal itself was very nice and cooked well, HOWEVER the meal wasn't complete and sides needed to be ordered to complete the meal. Mixed vegetables an extra £5 so three meals add another £15 to the bill, add 2 fries add another £7 to the bill so that's £22 on top of what your paying for your main meal. Throughout the evening we purchased from the bar non alcoholic beers and 2 gin and tonics, wine and water, so I was rather surprised that the £10 corkage had still been added even after purchasing other drinks and especially as they didn't sell Non alcoholic prosecco.

In all the food was lovely and the staff were attentive and considerate, only let down by incomplete meals and the £10 charge for supplying our own Non alcoholic prosecco. Pictures added are of meatballs, tiger prawns starters and main of surf and turf before adding sides.

Total bill, £153 for 2 starters, 3...

Dinner for 2 on a Friday night. 19th September 2025. First visit. Clean restaurant, welcoming staff, not overbearing, attentative. Food ordered, starters, calamari and fritto misto. Mains were spaghetti carbonara, lasagne, with bread and salad. Best carbonara and lasagne. I have been to Italy several times and eaten this dish multiple times. Food was hot, utterly delicious and excellent. Compliments to the chef. Faultless. The waitress and the front of house gentleman who greeted us and bought us the wine and water, showed us what great customer service was. This level of great customer service is sadly lacking in many Birmingham restaurants. We were also provided with containers after our meal so we were able to take home food. We would definitely eat there again and any friends asking us to recommend an Italian restaurant, you are now our number one...