Amico Mio Whalley LTD — Restaurant in Ribble Valley

My partner and I recently visited Amico Mio in Whalley, having been recommended this place and deciding to spend a special £100 from our family on a nice evening dinner. Sadly, this turned out to be a regrettable decision.

We arrived at 6:40 pm and, despite the restaurant not being at full capacity, faced an unreasonably long wait to order our starters. Our choices, Calamari Fritti and Insalata Caprese, were disappointing. The calamari was hard, soggy, chewy, and undercooked - almost making me sick. The Insalata Caprese was only okay, its flavour dominated by a basic basil pesto, with the tomatoes themselves being quite bland.

Leaving more than half of the calamari untouched, it went unnoticed by the staff. The garlic bread we had was fine - hard to get wrong.

After a 30-minute wait, our mains, two £30 Filetto al pepe verde steaks, arrived. We also ordered sides of Zucchini Fritti and Arborio Rice with Saffron. The zucchini was hot but lacked seasoning, while the rice, expected to be a vibrant yellow from the saffron, was a pale, forgotten yellow with only a mild saffron taste.

Contrary to the menu’s statement that steaks come with a choice of chips, vegetables, or salad, our steaks did not include fries. Upon asking, we were told that fries were a separate side, requiring an additional 10-15 minutes and likely an extra charge.

To our disappointment, the rice, meant to be served on a separate plate, was placed on the same plate as one of the steaks, with the steak’s sauce already mixing with the rice.

The steaks themselves, requested medium rare, were served almost rare - well grilled on the outside but bleeding inside. This, combined with the calamari experience, left me feeling uneasy about potential food poisoning.

Our final bill was £104, for two people, including one small bottle of Coke and a glass of white wine, with no service charge added. Living in London, we’ve seldom spent this much on a meal and received such subpar standards.

The restaurant was also very noisy due to the loud music, forcing all customers to speak loudly, adding to the already disappointing experience.

The table next to us also had Calamari Fritti, barely touching it, and again, no staff member addressed this.

In summary, this was by far my worst restaurant experience, made all the more upsetting by the high cost. If the price had been around £60-£70, it might have been a different story, but even then, such faults in the food are unacceptable. I sincerely hope our experience was not the norm for Amico Mio, but if it is, a significant price reduction would...

Where do I begin on this horrendous experience… firstly, we booked in for a birthday meal to arrive to a squashed up table with not enough seating or access for the party.

Secondly, & this is a major point..no disabled access toilets for my disabled mother in law. Walking up a flight of stairs is out of the question, so sadly, sat crossed legged at the table, not ordering drinks was the only option for her.

After raising our seating concerns to the manager a shrug of shoulders was offered along with the comment ‘we’ve never had anyone complain before’ (I can see now that is a lie after reading other comments & reviews left).

Adding to the ambience of a tight squeeze, a high chair was passed to my 5’1” sister in law, only for her to carry it herself above hers & other customers heads through the restaurant whilst they were eating. Lovely.

Our party was eventually served the mains, but sadly the birthday girl & her daughters food was missing.

After most people had finished eating I was eventually asked what we had ordered.

(I was unable to move out of my seat to ask a member of staff for the missing meals due to tightly packed seating plan issues… for me to move from my seat, 4 people from our table alone would need to not only stand up, but leave the table & stand near the bar. Asking not only our guests, but neighbouring tables to move was something I did not feel comfortable doing)

The birthday girls rigatoni finally arrived undercooked & inedible. I love al dente pasta… but this, no where near.

When the bill arrived a mystery bottle of wine had been suspiciously added. Not one person ordered a bottle so really no excuse for it to be there.

I have never left a bad review in my life, but sadly the whole experience & food was diabolical. Bad service, bad food, rude management & topped off with the shock of £3 for a splash of lemonade?!

No complaints on the younger staff, but the Manager/Owner should be ashamed - I left my birthday meal disappointed, hungry & eating...

I had never before relished the life-enriching experience of devouring a pizza until working as a ravenous and exhausted junior hospital doctor at the long-since demolished Middlesex Hospital in central London. There one night, half-starving and three-quarters asleep, I was sent out by my Senior Registrar to buy a very large, communal spicy and tomatoey 14" disc of delicious Italian goo at The, (also now demolished and desperately missed), Pizza House in Goodge Street. From that night, and forever more, my addiction to pizza was firmly established. I can NEVER pass a Pizza parlour by without stopping to further fuel my ever-expanding waistline! Distance presents no obstacle, as I proved last night with a return trip to Windermere via that little piece of gastronomic Sicilian heaven, Amico Mio in Whalley, near Clitheroe.

Google reviews tell it like it is! A highly convivial and atmospheric restaurant, producing exceptional food, served by delightful staff who really looked as though they relished interacting with their very appreciative customers.

As a now enfeebled and grumpy old man, with an equally crotchety female companion, I have only 2 suggestions to make, so that gustatory perfection may be achieved:

1). Make the premises next door a friendly and irrefusable Sicilian offer to take over the adjacent building and, once done,

2). Turn this into a separate family eating space where kids could be neither seen nor heard by adult misanthropes hoping for a peaceful/romantic night out. Such a welcome expansion of your delightful business premises would also allow the construction of ground-floor and disabled 'washrooms', should any of your customers inexplicably wish to have a bath between courses. (Surely one should do this before venturing out for the night, anyway?!)

Overall a great night out. Congratulations to you all. When's Inspector Montalbano coming to dine and sign...