Good food at a reasonable price

I had to visit Picollo's twice, once on my own, the second time with a pal.My first visit was quite disappointing. I started with the home made minestrone soup. It was served to me with no napkin and a dessert spoon instead of a soup spoon. A very inauspicious start. Sometimes, I like parmasan with my soup, but this was not offered and neither was bread. The next course was the Italian meatballs. Again this was served very poorly with no parmasan or fresh pepper offered. I have to confess this is the first I have ever been into an Italian restaurant and not been offered freshly ground pepper from a grinder with great phallic emphasis! For dessert, I took the chocolate pancakes, which were delicious, but why, oh why do they have to offer spray cream - it is always such a disappointment and gives the appearance that the chef cannot be bothered.Whilst the service was very poor, the quality of the food was very good. The meatballs were firm and tasty whilst the tomato sauce was thick and clung well to the meatballs. The pasta was perfectly cooked.The second visit was a vast improvement on the first, as we had a different waiter. This waiter took the time to get everything right, parmasan always offered, napkins easily to hand, pepper always flourished. Again, the food was very good, but I have to confess that I was disappointed by the home made tiramisu, which was bland, dry and small.Would I go again? Yes I would, but if I saw the first waiter again I would ask to be reseated or leave. Having said that the food is good, even the pancakes were good, but don't go for the tiramisu.

A User - 10/01/2009 | report this review