The Dinner Detective Dines at:San Carlo, King Street West


The Dinner Detective Dines at:San Carlo, King Street West

The Dinner Detective
21/ 7/2005

UNLIKE restaurant reviewers on some newspapers, the Dinner Detective eats out incognito and always pays for the meal. That way the Dinner Detective gets the same treatment as the readers, giving you an honest view of the service you might receive.

DESPITE its tucked-away location, San Carlo was doing a good trade when I visited.

The large restaurant was busy enough to make me wonder if my companion and I would get a table without having booked.

There are four San Carlo restaurants in England and a card placed on each table before we arrived listed comments from critics, including AA Gill hailing it as "the best Italian restaurant outside London". The décor is plain and clean, the atmosphere friendly and the open-plan kitchen a tribute to traditional Italian cooking with jars of tomatoes on view and a flaming pizza oven in the middle.

Confident we would enjoy ourselves, we ordered a bottle of the chianti reserva (£17.50) and turned our attention to the extensive menu whichmade for difficult decision-making because of the number of delicious sounding treats on offer.

I opted for the prosciutto et melone (£6.75) to start, which was the best example of this dish I have ever tasted, while my opposite number went for the fresh oysters (£6.95) which were pronounced delicious.

The first hint of service trouble came quickly however, as we each ordered a glass of prosecco to accompany the first course, which only arrived when we were almost finished and after we had asked passing staff for it twice.

But when the food finally arrived, it justified any accolade which could be given to it. My fagottini san carlo (£7.95) was a real treat, made with tasty parma ham and a deliciously rich mushroom sauce. The tomato garlic bread (£3.95) was excellent and crisp and made the perfect side dish. My companion went for the traditional Roman dish of saltimbocca alla romana (£10.75), with zucchini fritti (£2.45) and French fries (£1.75) to accompany it. Sadly, after the main courses the problems really set in. We waited 15 minutes without being offered a dessert menu before we asked a passing member of staff for one.

And after we had decided to try the tiramisu con savoiardi (£4.50) and the panna cotta (£4.60) we had a long conversation while waiting for someone to return and then eventually had to catch someone's eye and ask them to take our order.

The desserts were delicious, another example of excellent authentic Italian cuisine, so it was unfortunate that after we had finished we had to ask for the bill three times before it was found and brought to our table.

I would like to return to San Carlo as the food was excellent. But the bill, with service included, came to £91.08, which is a bit steep for any meal that was not a wholly enjoyable experience.


Have your say
 
Have your say Got an opinion you want to share?
Register now and have your comments heard.

Register now


 
Personal Finance
 

Customers with a 'good' credit profile
Company Typical APR
Platinum Exclusive Loan 7.8%
Halifax (Semi-exclusive) 8.6%
Bank of Scotland (Semi-exclusive) 8.6%
Alliance & Leicester 8.7%
Lloyds TSB 8.9%
HASH(0x2b6000450570)
Provider AER*
ICICI BANK
HiSAVE Savings Account 		5.50%
PRINCIPALITY BS
e-SAVER 		5.35%
ANGLO IRISH BANK
Easy Access Account Issue 2 		5.25%
FIRST DIRECT
Everyday e-Saver 		2.75%
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER
Online Tracker 		4.75%
BRADFORD & BINGLEY
eSavings 6 		4.60%
SAINSBURYS FINANCE
Internet Saver 		3.50%
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER
eSaver - Issue 2 		5.00%
POST OFFICE
Instant Saver 		3.75%
Fees may apply