Prezzo Italian Restaurant Port Solent — Restaurant in Portsmouth

So, Prezzo, drawn in by the delights an “i” newspaper voucher last month which shouted a very appealing “buy one get one free” at me. It had to be redeemed by “Star Wars Day” (my description, not theirs) so Sunday chose itself with our friends availability.

There were five of us diners of assorted shapes, sizes, ages and tastes. None of us had eaten at Prezzo before so this was an opportunity to sample their take on Italian cuisine.

We took an 18:00 seating on the Sunday of the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. Peak time for staffing and cooking efficiency one would expect… Sadly no, we were immediately informed that the whole grill menus was “off”. No burgers, no chicken Milanese, no Tuscan beef. For those of us not totally into pasta it was downcast looks. On the plus side the server was very willing and eager to please. He was, however, driven by his Prezzo serving app on his handheld device. Many times the “computer said no” and we had to revise our orders. In fairness to him, we believe he was new into the role and struggling a touch, but he was no slouch and eager to perform well.

My wife and I chose pasta (the reality was we had no choice), both selecting the ravioli (see attached photo for menus choices). Beef Shin (£18.75) for me and Pea & Goat’s Cheese (£17.50) for my wife. The PGS looked impressive but my wife said she could not taste any trace of goat’s cheese in it. As for me my BS looked rather like the tinned ravioli my mum served to me some 50 years ago (thanks mum 👍🏻👍🏻 xx). I have no reason not to believe it was beef shin as it was purported to be, but to me it was blandness and tomato personified.

But for all of us it was the company that made the meal. The restaurant warm, comfortable and well appointed. However, the shortcomings of the menu were further joined by the closure of the gents toilets. “Out of action, please use the disabled toilet”. I should add that their spell check needs a quick look as in the longer version pinned to the door inconvenience is incorrectly spelt.

So to sum up.

Could they do better? Most certainly. Was it a special evening? Very much so, one we will all recall with wry grins for many years to come. Will we return? No, there are more Italian restaurant options in the Marina. We’ve tried, we’ve tested, we’ve left. To paraphrase Caesar and his salad….

We discussed star ratings as we walked along the Boardwalk and 2 stars was the group feeling. But, we cleaned out plates (see attached photos) and had a “different” experience. Verging nearly on the Fawlty Towers.

All in all they get 3 stars overall. I personally won’t go back, but for you dear reader try it with an open mind and prepare to be surprised (good or bad). Port Solent is an excellent location and let’s hope this review helps the chain target any supply chain issues this review may have highlighted.

Must sign off now (09:50) Bank Holiday Monday as I’m due at Wetherspoons for breakfast… you can’t go wrong with...

Good Morning I visited your Prezzo Port Solent yesterday (Sunday 11th July). I went with my family and pre booked a table. Initially the experience was good nice and quick to order drinks and then the food. However our experience rapidly went down hill. We ordered our food then an hour had passed without any starters. So I politely asked the waitress who informed us that our starters were currently being cooked. The restaurant wasn't busy at all - 2 small tables inside and a table of 6 outside along with our table of 8. Then the table next to us who had arrived 25 mins after us got there food....so again I politely asked the waitress who then said the chefs were handing over and had been on a break. It got to 1 hour and 20 mins and still no starters...so I asked for the manager who was very apologetic her name was Maria (assistant manager) who was very polite and kindly offered us some drinks. We had 3 small children with us and it got to 1 hour and 40 mins and I spoke to your duty manger his name was Jose who was so rude and quite frankly didn't care and shrugged his shoulders. Eventually 10 minutes later food came to our table which was all wrong...they brought out main courses mixed with starters and at that point I had enough....so I said to your duty manager we are going to leave to which his reply wad which I think is disgusting.......I think its best you do and quickly took the food of our table.....I have never in my life walked out of a restaurant and never received such poor customer service....your duty manager Jose didn't even care that he had ruined a family meal which I had organise...I live away from my parents and rarely see them and ruined a day with them...this is unacceptable and I will be leaving a review on Google reviews and will be raising this to who ever I can. I expect an apology of some sort for this...

Booked a table for 7pm.. the queue for tables was ridiculous even for those who had pre booked.. wasn't seated til 7.15pm and as I have limited mobility and walk with a stick, standing for 15mins when I had pre booked in my opinion is unacceptable! Even more annoying that the table they put us on had been vacant the whole time I'd been waiting! When I questioned this I was told it was because it was exceptionally busy and they didn't want people ordering all at the same time!!! 2 points I have about that.. Firstly, if you can't cope with the amount of people coming then don't pre book tables, and secondly if it had been explained, I would have happily rather been seated at our table, given the option of being able to order a drink, enjoy the views and look at the menu and wait for a time that was better to order, than be stood in a queue in a narrow doorway being pushed out the way by multiple waitresses and people trying to leave! Not a good start!

We then got a seemingly lovely waitress but unfortunately most of our requests fell on deaf ears, although she did eventually manage to get us a table inside as I was getting cold. However, once inside, we didn't see her again and were never assigned a new waitress so had to keep putting my hand up to get the attention of other (already busy!) waitresses to help with simple requests such as clearing the table and requesting a dessert menu!

This all said, the food was nice, but luckily I had a 25% voucher otherwise for a fairly simple meal for 2 would have been £75+ (no alcohol!!)

Portsmouth Solent is a beautiful venue wherever you're eating and very pretty after dark with all the lights, but sadly I will not...