Kia's Pastaria — Restaurant in Sheffield

My partner and I live very locally to Kia's, everyday we drive past and this little restaurant always seems to be very busy. After reading the reviews and hearing amazing feedback from friends that have eaten here, we're were extremely eager to try it for our selves!

Tonight we finally made time to pay Kia's a visit and see what all fuss was about! Unfortunately we got off to a very bad start. We weren't greeted at all by the waitress who showed us to our table (a simple welcome and smile would of sufficed) she then read out the specials and walked off without offering us a drink. After waiting 20 minutes sat patiently we started to get a little annoyed and was extremely disappointed (especially since we had psyched our selves up so much).

Luckily our frustrations was spotted by a young gentleman with curly hair who apologised repeatedly and listened to our complaints. Close to walking out this lovely young chap explained that it was his first shift but heard amazing things about the food and that it was relatively quick timings on the food!

After this lovely reassurance and apology from this new starter he convinced us to stay and try the food and ensured us that he would do all he can to turn things around!

I had the steak and my partner had the sea food linguine pescatora - both of these tasted delicious - were fantastic quality, great portions and really did fill us up!

I think on this occasion the terrible service at the start was rare one. However I must thank the young man (who wasn't the problem) for spotting us getting a little annoyed and turning things around! We really did enjoy our food and your service!

We will certainly be back and hope to see...

I'll be picky as I am Italian, so read only if you want an authentic Italian opinion.

This is a lovely place, with decent but not exceptional Italian food, and a quite pricey. I had the past with granchio and tiramisù for dessert). The pasta was good, the sauce was way too soggy and salty but at least it was a generous portion. Also, they gave us no bread... if you are Italian, you give bread (included in the price). Dessert: The tiramisu (very expensive) was.. interesting... but it was more like a coffee with some cream than tiramisu. It is served with pistacchio on top, which is really interesting and I found really a good combination, but the mascarpone cream was very little and just on top, the biscuit (savoiardi) was completely sogged in in coffee, and the two (cream and biscuit) were not well combined, they were just one on top of the other, and the coffee flavour was overpowering. The one I make at home is better in terms of combination and balance of flavours and texture. So that was disappointing. Service was good, very friendly so ok. However it was quite slow on a packed night, they were not very attentive with water, which was exacerbated by the salty food, and the non Italian personnel could learn to pronounce the name of the dishes at least. But the servers were really nice and friendly. And yeah it is cash only. Overall I think overrated, overpriced, not authentic...

It’s so rare to discover a restaurant serving great food without a hint of pretension.

We have just enjoyed a faultless meal out at Kia’s for our 8 year anniversary and will be finding any excuse to return.

We opted to share the focaccia with balsamic and oil from the special board to start - this was almost brioche like in texture and absolutely delicious, sprinkled with flakes of sea salt and rosemary to finish.

For mains we had a slow braised beef cheek ragu and a carbonara.

Not to get too soppy about a pasta dish, but the carbonara genuinely made me feel like I was sat around my grandmother’s kitchen table again, which was a beautifully nostalgic experience.

For puddings we had homemade vanilla gelato and a warm indulgent brownie.

This is homely, comforting, honest Italian food cooked to absolute perfection.

To top it off, service was faultless, there are crooner hits in the background and the coffee was great - cannot remember the last time we left a restaurant this satisfied.

If it’s raining outside and you’re craving the perfect bowl of pasta, get...