Jamie's Italian - London

On booking the table I had some doubts after reading other peoples experiences. Within seconds of arriving such fears were gone. Myself and 3 friends were made to feel very welcome and we could not have asked for more. The customer service was very good and we did not have to wait very long for anything. The food was good and the drinks cold. My only complaint was that the menu did not have any cheese and biscuits .[A nice touch for us pre the rugby]. We will be returning.

We were a little apprehensive as we were very surprised to get a table at such short notice (we had only booked a few days before our 1pm lunch booking everywhere else in Richmond and Twickenham were booked solid because of the rugby world cup match which we were also attending. While the staff that served us were very nice and friendly the food was a big let down, poor quality, tasteless and bland. My mozzarella salad was the only dish out of four that was okay but even that had far too much balsamic vinegar on it for my taste. Authentic Italian it is not. Such a shame as it situated in a lovely part of Richmond.

Oh dear. I don 't know what 's happened here. I chose Amadoro because I 'd had some good meals there, and although the service has been very patchy, I hoped friends would find it quirky and better than a 'chain ' restaurant. A lukewarm 'welcome ', followed by fairly mediocre starters. And the pasta mains, served in sad little bowls, were pretty flavourless. The bread well, we did laugh at the 5 little 'soldiers ' [was that one slice of bread, we wondered], with some oil and vinegar. At £3.90? oh come ON................. We had to listen to the only other customer haggling over the price of his lunch and it seems he was probably right, as the website says £15.50 for a starter and pasta. Yet I see that we all paid around £25 a head! I know it 's tough running a restaurant; you shouldn 't do it unless you love food and like people. Amadoro seems unloved and is unlovable.

We haven't been to Amadora for a while and it was clear as soon as we arrived that it had changed hands. It was not as good, the charming warm welcome was gone, though we were greeted with friendliness. Food was quite good, but under-seasoned and the very small menu reduced by the unavailability of two main courses. We were disgusted to find that the service charge added to the bill is kept by the owners, we removed it as did the fellow diner who mentioned it to us on his way out. We are unlikely to return.

My 1st time at Amadora, often walked past in my way to the Richmond Curzon, this time I made a reservation, my risotto fungi was v v v good! Definitely going back!