Fiume Italian Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Wolverhampton

A hidden Italian gem in the suburbs of Wolverhampton and a place regularly visited. ⁣ Décor: 7/10⁣⁣ Food: 9/10⁣⁣ Service: 8/10⁣⁣ Overall: 8/10⁣⁣ ⁣ Background:⁣ Fiume is a family owned restaurant located in Compton, towards the South West of Wolverhampton, which was opened in 2013 by an ambitious husband and wife team who wanted to bring the taste of their home regions in Italy. It was my first visit but my girlfriend had visited a couple of times before. ⁣⁣ Food & Drink:⁣ Fiume have a selection of vegetarian options available from the main menu and a seperate Vegan menu.

We last ordered a "Risotto Mushroom" starter to share, and two mains; a "Pizza Verdi" and "Orrechiette all' Arabbiata" again to share. The Risotto was wonderfully cooked and the perfect portion size for a starter. Often Vegan Cheese used for Pizzas can taste "obviously vegan" but in this instance the pizza did not taste like it was vegan at all, with the cheese being creamy just as dairy. The pasta within the Orrechiette was not traditionally "Orrechiette" shaped, but was beautifully cooked (a nice bite) as opposed to being overcooked and somewhat mushy as in other restaurants. We had a cheesecake to share for dessert which was lovely; unfortunately the Vegan menu did not have dessert options. Service:⁣ The service has alway been great. When last visiting we were waited upon by a lovely lady who was very happy to help with identifying dishes suitable for our dietary requirements (even though we were picking from the vegan menu, being lacto-vegetarian we did not mind the presence of milk in dishes, or the addition of dairy). It was a cold night and the first table at which we were seated was in a particularly cold part of the restaurant, so our request to be moved to a warmer table was accomodated by moving us to next to one of the radiators (unfortunately the restaurant had heating problems on the day so the radiators were not working properly). ⁣ Decor:⁣ Fuime is located in an old cottage building, and is modernly decorated, incorporating a bar and restaurant seating to the ground floor, and restaurant seating only to the first. ⁣ Timing:⁣ We arrived at about 7:00pm and stayed for a couple of hours,...

It’s 23:46 as I right this review after an evening at Fiume. This is a restaurant that I have visited many times when I visit family in Tettenhall.

As they say, you’re only as good as your last performance and Fiume’s performance was sub par this evening.

We firstly arrived outside where the music was blearing towards our table like the outdoor smoking area at a Weatherspoons pub. After a request it was turned down.

The waitress with a Burberry facemask took our initial drinks order; cocktails. 5 of the 7 drinks were correct, 2 were wrong. This was rectified.

The cocktails themselves were splendid, hats off to the bar staff.

Starters and main were ordered. Both were lovely and everyone was pleased with the food.

Before main arrived we ordered a bottle of wine and jug of water which didn’t arrive. We chased twice for these items before they arrived on our table.

Desert too was nice.

The service post desert was disappointing too, we had to wait an age for the bill after two requests. We then had to wait an age again until are hard earned children’s inheritance was take from our card.

Other key points; Use of face masks by staff was hit and miss behind their bar Burberry was getting too close to us when order. We had a pregnant lady on the table who did ask her to move back but she seemed unbothered and told her not to worry We were charged over £35 too much (extra bottle of wine and other drinks) Distributing and collection of food/plates to our table was unsatisfactory at times At the end, bar staff were just standing around, taking little interest in our table

It felt as though there was no one around who had a commercial interest in the business, otherwise the service and attention would have been better.

I came home frustrated and disappointed. Overall, my expectations weren’t met and I wouldn’t return based on...

The first thing that struck me was the small car park. When we arrived for a 7.15 table booking there were no spaces left so had to park elsewhere and walk. So get there early in case of no parking. The night we went there was a party upstairs so guests down stairs were ignored. So not really a good night. It is probably for this reason that l didn't feel the place had a good atmosphere. I didn't think our waitress was very friendly and seemed distracted and busy. Indeed it presents as requiring smart dress but l didn't find either the staff or customers were dressed smartly so generally it is a casual appearance which is fine so ignore the smart dress request. The food when it came was OK...nothing special. I had ordered lasagne and side salad. I was disappointed with the portions and also that the salad was served on the same plate as the lasagne. I expected the salad to be separate rather than on a plate with the warm food. It also meant that the lasagne portion was reduced and the salad was reduced. Not impressed but what was there was OK. My wife had pasta all'arrabiata with chicken which was spicy. It was a good portion hence my suspicion that my portion was small due to the salad being served on the same plate. Overall the bill came to £66 for two prossecco, two glasses of house wine and two main courses. Would l go back? Maybe as it was still a nice restaurant in a nice location it was probably because of the party upstairs that our experience...