Il Giardino - Southwark

We went for the first time, absolutely stunning! We tried the Antipasto to share that was quite small but fair for the price paid, the Linguine Mushroom and the Pizza were tasty and very good ! I am not a huge fan of Tiramisu but their one was fab !

Came back to Il Giardino for the first time this week after living abroad for 10+ years. Every bit as good as I remembered and thrilled it’s still here. Lovely unpretentious Italian restaurant, food is delicious still dreaming about the Orecchiette pasta with walnuts! Thanks to the chef and all the wonderful staff.

Sadly disappointed with the service last night. I recommended to my family that we come here for my 50th birthday but now regret it as we had to wait nearly an hour for our starter the all of my family apart from me got their main. I was sitting there for 15 minutes whilst everyone was eating as the restaurant had ticked my meal off as served to me. This actually upset me and I told the waiter. They bought out my meal when nearly everyone had finished theirs but by then, I didn’t want it. I wasn’t hungry anymore. They bought out a slice of tiramisu with a candle and sang happy birthday as an apology but that didn’t make up for the fact that I didn’t get a meal in the end! They took off the cost of my whole order but still ruined my evening. I wanted to return here as I hadn’t been here for 12 years and knew the food and service was good. I was wrong this time and will not return! This was supposed to be a special meal. Everyone else enjoyed their food. I can’t comment as I didn’t have any!

We came here a few times a few years ago. The food always took ages to come but it was good when it came, as was the wine. I wonder if they’ve had a change of ownership over COVID because now it’s still slow but the food and wine is terrible. It’s still a nice building but they ruin the atmosphere with tinny pop music and laminated menus. I ordered house white which was bad. Had to ask for tap water and took a while to order food. Ordered a starter of crostini. It was £8 or so for cheese on toast with some cheap pepperoni on top. After that, we thought about cancelling our mains but we’re too embarrassed. They came out about an hour after the starters. And we were lucky to get in before the rush. The table next to us said they thought their food would never come and you wouldn’t get away with service where they are from. There’s only one chef for about 100 diners. Sure the staff they have are working hard but not enough of them. When the food came, it was bad. My trout was tasteless. Potato’s we’re just small tasteless roast potatoes. Spinach tasted like out of a tin. That was £16 or so. My wife had some spaghetti and meatballs. Said the onion wasn’t cooked, the tomato sauce wasn’t rich and the meatballs tasted of ketchup and it had some random frozen peas in there. Neither of us finished and we managed to grab the bill and get out to have a drink and ice cream at home. They do say on the menus that it’s unpretentious and you may have to wait a long time. They say that’s because it’s being cooked fresh but it’s because they’re understaffed. If one guy is cooking different dishes for 100 people, he’s going to have to take shortcuts and it’s impossible for him to make nice food.

Excellent choice particularly the specials on the blackboard I had the aubergine starter and the tagliatelle al salmone. The food was excellent. Warning: don’t go there if you are in a hurry we were very happy to have a leisurely meal!