THURSDAY 27TH AUGUST 2009
A few weeks ago a new Italian restaurant opened in Gunthorpe, near Nottingham
I was really looking forward to trying it out and thought that it could well be an ideal venue to take my inlaws for lunch when they came to stay.
I should have taken it as a warning sign when they kept delaying the lunch time opening, but finally, just in time for my birthday in August they opened. However, as this visit was not problem free I chose not to review it, and give them a little longer to iron out the initial teething problems we encountered.
Today, reluctantly, I have to say that this is not the case, and that the level of service and professionalism one may have expected from a new and rather plush looking restaurant is sadly lacking.
When we arrived at around 1.20p.m it there were just 2 people dining, although another table of 2, and a table of 1 arrived soon after. We were asked whether we would like to go straight to a table or sit in the comfortable bar area for a drink first, We chose the latter. There are lovely, comfortable leather chairs and sofas and is very tastefully decorated. We did notice however that the same tiles were still missing from the fireplace.
The drinks arrived promptly. We were served by the same young man we had seen on our previous visit. He is extremely polite and helpful but it is clear that he has not worked in the retaurant business before, and the lack of training was evident.
After approx 20 minutes, starving hungry and not a menu in sight, I found our young man who appeared puzzled that we were requesting a menu before being seated at our table. However, he took our order and left us to find a table of our choice. I had asked for some bread and garlic butter to be brought before our starter as by now we were absolutely ravenous. This however, arrived at the same as the starter and without any butter.
At no time were we offered a wine menu, or even asked if we would like another drink.
When our pizzas arrived we were not offered any black pepper or asked if we would like anything else (we would have loved some parmesan)
When I mentioned my concerns to our waiter he kept apolgizing, but frankly it is easy to say sorry. Actions would have spoken louder than words.
Despite these negative words, the food is quite good.
My prawn and avocado cocktail was lovely and fresh, mu husband said his vegetable soup was really tasty.
Out pizzas were freshly baked, if a little too well done on the edges.
This restaurant has great potential.
It is is the right location, close to the river. It looks right - bright, airy and clean. The prices are about right. It cost us £9.95 per head for two courses.
The menu has a fairly good selection, although the waiter seemed unclear as to whether or not we could just choose from the lunch menu, or the more extensive a la carte menu on the reverse side,
(The cost of the drinks were deducted after I complained about the service)
The problem I have is that the owners appear clueless and amateurish when it comes to actually running the restaurant.
At this stage I will award Pontefino's 5/10
I feel that it could easily rate a 9/10 with just a few important tweaks. I really hope it makes it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment