Poco — Restaurant in Wealden

In theory offered much, but in practice fell far short of our expectations. For two people, the choice is to share tables, which is fine, but if you want a bit of privacy, then the bench and stool in the window combo needs to be better. There's very little room and the stools wobble. As for the food, seriously over-priced in terms of quality. The signature 'poco' was stodgy, bland, uninteresting and the pasta was overcooked. For the price, it seriously needs refining. Also, for such high cost, £12 each, the starters were underwhelming - if you're only offering two choices, then they need to be seriously good. And finally, a dessert that was ordered never arrived and not noticed until the bill was given and then no apology. The chocolate torte that wasn't forgotten was bland and meagre. Good intentions, but doesn't deliver. Concept takes precedence over quality, as is so often the case in this country. Incomparable in terms of cost and quality to a meal we had in Pisa this year. Finally, the wine per glass is extortionate - £8.50 seems a bit much. For two people, costing over £120, this was disappointing. In addition, the obligatory 12.5% service charge was in no way justified. Won't be returning, which is a shame because...

Possibly our experience was very unusual...we were sat at a cosy table for two in an alcove at 8pm. The staff were welcoming, the atmosphere seemed lovely, an Italian guitarist left a few minutes afterwards We ordered a glass of South African pink fizz to start while we chose from the menu. Then a party of 8 arrived, they decided their table was in the wrong orientation, without consulting anyone they noisily moved two smaller tables and turned their table 90 degrees, then decided that wasn't satisfactory, so moved it back to the original place...during all this the wine we had ordered didn't arrive, so my husband asked again; the waitress who possibly was having difficulty hearing us was quite curt... the wrong wine was offered which we rejected and finally we were served what we had ordered. I had the Ragu which was delicious, my husband had Stracciatella to start which didn't have much flavour, followed by the Poco pasta, we shared the chocolate tart which was very good but the ice-cream somewhat watery rather than creamy. The party of 8, definitely local and known to the restaurant, continued to dominate the space, talking across the restaurant to other locals... unfortunately this selfish behaviour diminished...

My husband booked this restaurant way in advance of our wedding anniversary. He had advised the restaurant that it was our anniversary. When we arrived, the waitress said that our table had been moved and took us to a table at the back, which was shared and we were perched on a corner at one end, sitting actually on the corner. So not even opposite each other! We were asked if we wanted water for the table. But at this point, we were already aware that this situation wasn’t acceptable. We said to the waitress politely, that we were not happy with the seating arrangement. But we were told that it clearly stated on the website, that there is a shared table arrangement. For the record, there are tables for two people. We then said politely that we wouldn’t be staying and my husband (again - very politely) said that we had left the water on the table. The waitress, then mumbled under her breath sarcastically (I don’t think that she meant for me to hear) “it’s been opened, but that’s fine”. When I turned back surprised, she looked a little embarrassed. Rightly so! Shame on you, Poco! Never eaten there. Never will! Determined not to let it spoil our 34th wedding anniversary - we went back to our hotel and had...