If there had not already been a group sat at a table one may have been forgiven for believing that…read morethe small corner Italian was closed. We showed ourselves to an appropriate table and waited for service to appear, this finally materialised after five minutes. While we were eating one man came in and left in the space of time the server had disappeared to the kitchen for. Perhaps some sort of door bell arrangement for the rear of house would solve this problem. The beer selection is limited only to Peroni Nastro Azzurro but there is an okay selection of wine with house wines offered by the glass. The menu is generous for such a small establishment and they could quite easily lean it down to pursue a greater quality in output. A specials board would have been nice along with a generic Italian sounding background music for ambience but there were non. Gladly there were two old eccentrics to listen to instead. Food was served in a timely manner and service ticked the boxes well. My first reaction to the pricing was that it was slightly low by a pound all around. Sadly the quality was realigned with the slightly deflated prices. My veal although served with superb thick cut chips and a deliciously creamy sauce was overdone, it is very easy to over cook a scallop of veal however. My wife's lasagne was served luke warm and it was the English interpretation of lasagne and not authentic, typically something you would find on a room service menu or in a chain pub. Perhaps on a dark evening the place would come to life a little more and one more staff member might make the service seamless.

Visited San Sicario on a friday night just on the spur of the moment, rang then made a booking for…read morean hour later. On entering we were warmly greated I think by the owner and shown upstairs which is intimate with bags of atmosphere, nice lighting and gentle music and offered a nice table for two. We sat down, ordered a sparkling bottle of wine which was served almost instantly. Just what I needed for a friday night. Breadsticks and homemade bread followed while we studied the menu. I enquired about the veal which to get right is tricky, and had a very interesting conversation regarding the preparation of veal. Another lady had had it, loved it but we plumped for whitebait with homemade tartare sauce (not a tartare lover) but when it arrived it looked fresh and the whole dishworked perfectly. I am now a converted tartare person. My other half had a salad nice and fresh but I missed out on trying it. I chose an anchovy, olive pizza which was delightful, too big really for me but it was so light I squeezed it in. My other half chose seafood risotto, looked lush and must have been as it was gone quickly and I only managed to secure one mouthful. It was reasonably priced considering the competition in Wallingford, with good service, room temperature was just right and the ambience is something to remember :-) Had a truly lovely evening, the time whiled away from us and I look forward to spending another evening there soon.

Wonderful food and ambience; enjoyed a Negroni, Barbera d'Asti, pizza and pork cutlets parmigiana…read more Also good service and overall hospitality

Great authentic Italian restaurant real treat not to go to a chain and have the feel of a family…read morerun restaurant with great food and atmosphere.

February 15th 2019…read more In Evening, me my mom and my dad had a family dinner together.Everything was going great. We first had to book this Italian restaurant called Rigoletto. After we got there we found a very comfortable seat. Mom and I started to order. My original plan for my third course was to eat a pancake called Crêpes Suzette. The waitress said that I couldn't order that as my third course. It was because there would be alcohol in Crêpes Suzette so he suggested me to try another dessert for my third course so I ordered tiramisu. The rest of our meal was delicious! However, our neighbors ordered Crêpes Suzette and we saw the fire flying up two meters high. It was caused by the alcohol. Because the alcohol was strong enough to make the cooking pan go on fire for two meters high. That was a funny & interesting night. I enjoyed eating in the Rigoletto and if you have time, you can go there for your dinner!!! Fun Fact This was my dolci menu!!!

Love it here. Fun Journey back into 1985 in a great way. Old style. Lovely food. Lot of fun.read more

This is a great place to enjoy some good Italian after exploring Oxford all day. We went during the…read moreholidays and I have to say they did a great job with decorating and giving it a very holiday, welcoming vibe. The staff were friendly and attentive (but not overly so because they did let us chill out and talk for a bit after our meal). For food, I really enjoyed the mushroom risotto- it does have a pretty heavy mushroom taste so if you like mushrooms you'll love it. I found adding chicken cut the taste a little; I'm not sure if I'd have liked it as much if I didn't add the protein. My friend ordered the crab fettuccine...it was okayyyy. Wasn't enough crab for me personally and wish there'd been more bisque to make it a smidge more creamy. The bruschetta was a nice appetizer but was only two slices so wouldn't recommend for more than 2 people. Side note: if you're looking for a good wine, the Chianti was delicious and complimented the meal well. We were able to walk in with no reservations for 2 people but any group larger than that, you need to be prepared to wait or make your reservation ahead of time. There were a couple groups of 4 people in front of us and they quoted them a 2 hour wait because of the amount of reservations they had. Could have been just because of the holiday time.

We had a quick dinner experience here before catching our train back to London. The host was…read moreincredibly gracious to try and squeeze us in without a reservation. We were given a table for an hour, which was plenty of time. My boyfriend, who wasn't that hungry, ordered the beef tortellini small plate, and I got the lasagne. Both were satisfying and seasoned well. The best part of the experience was probably the ambience, particularly since it was the holiday season. The interior was cozy, well lit, and had an intimate feel, which makes the restaurant a popular place for Christmas parties.

We stopped in with a large crew, and they were friendly and accommodating. We didn't see any other…read morekiddos dining, but our little was welcomed with smiles. Thank you, Europe, for lovin' the kids. They readily accommodated her creamy tomato sauce spaghetti request (wasn't on the menu). I wasn't super impressed with the pastas or pizzas, but the salads damn near broke my mauf. Fresh and simple, and quite honestly BANGIN'. Italians make the best salads. Don't you ever forget it. I enjoyed a slice of tiramisu for dessert and let me tell you, someone stole grandma's recipe. It was packed with espresso, cocoa, creamy whipped cream, just all things EPIC to put it simply. I'd recommend dropping in for vino, the salads, and tiramisu or the chocolate cake, which my husband enjoyed.

One of the best Italian food I've had since my trip to Italy. They have a lot of vegetarian…read moreoptions, which was another upside of us choosing this restaurant. We got (forgot the actual names) - garlic cheese bread: gooey stringy cheese on top the softest chewiest bread! - baked penne: my hubby said it was amazing - spicy mushroom spaghetti in cream sauce: never had spaghetti that tasted like this before! Sauce was made fresh with chili peppers in it. Creamy with lots of flavors. So yummy! Service was warm and friendly. We were hosted like friends. Decor was nice: traditional and humble. The coloring and decor basically says: you are here for some delicious hearty and traditional food our family has to share with you in our most sincerest way!

Just ate here tonight. Negronis were fabulous and strong and food was delicious. Wait staff was…read moreefficient and friendly. Would definitely go back. It was busy and I can see why.

Menu has a really good choice and the food is always fantastic. I am lucky enough to usually eat…read morehere a couple times a month and I have never been disappointed. Carlo is always a great host and makes you feel really welcome. Service is always excellent even when the restaurant is packed. One of my favourite restaurants in Northampton.

Best Italian restaurant in Oxford surrounding areas. The food is sophisticated Italian. Very well…read moreexecuted. The operators are two true Italians who talks Italian English and behave like an Italian. I love it

La Fenice is a good Italian restaurant…read more However, it has all the makings of a GREAT Italian restaurant if it could succumb to a few simple tweaks. I went there with friends recently. The vibe of the places squeals 'style', the friendly smiling attention of the servers likewise. Then we we given the menus. The combination of low light, nothing specific illuminating our table and pale grey printing on the pages of the menu meant... well, it meant we couldn't actually see what was on offer! I am not making this up when I say to read it we had to spark up a smartphone and hold it over the pages and then lean in as a combined trio to pore over the contents. So simple suggestion 1:- Quickly reprint the menus using good old fashioned black ink and save your diners the embarrassment and awkwardness of having to squint like a very squinty thing. Simple Suggestion #2:- If you must play music over the speakers, please, please, PLEASE play something that is in keeping with the stylish vibe of the place. I will remember La Fenice's craptastic selection of horrible saxophone solos, cheesy light jazz rubbish, out-of-tune wailers and (at one point an utterly bizarre choice of) German oompah band music FAR longer than I will remember the food I ate there. And the food is good. One of our party had a pizza which looked inviting and was polished off in its 14" entirety whilst the other two opted for the risottos (mushroom or chicken) which came out from the kitchen hot and steaming and very tasty indeed, garnished and accompanied perfectly. The food served to the tables around us all looked terrific and almost everyone seemed to be having a nice time... even if eyebrows did collectively raise when that oompah tune came on. Le Fenice's website - just discovered - states that fish is their speciality. I wish I had known that on the night as its been a long time since I've had a good Italian fish dish. Sadly, the design of the menu meant I never even saw this kind of offering to choose it. Like I said. A good Italian restaurant with all the makings of being a great one. Worth a try if you take along a flashlight/torch and a sturdy pair of music-blocking earplugs!

I love this restuarant! The staff are so friendly and helpful and are able to cater for any special…read moredietary needs. The food is basic Italian, with a couple of English dishes (Steak etc). The price is very reasonable, and the size of the portions is huge! The lunchtime menu is especially good value for money. The atmosphere and decor of Fenice is very clean and modern, it's quite small so on busy nights you might need to book. I reccommend this place 100% it's lovely in every aspect!!

A little on the spendy side, but well worth it if you want a great Italian meal. I've walked past…read morethis place dozens of times, but it wasn't until I had a craving for it that I decided to give it a try. They probably don't get a whole lot of walk-in traffic because it's down a long alleyway between Oxford Road and the Hexagon Theatre. Welcomed warmly by the (manager? owner?), I was brought to a table with a lovely view of the restaurant and the massive wine racks. But wine wasn't what I wanted today and I went with a pint of Italian Peroni beer. When it was delivered, the manager started to tell me about the specials when I interrupted him. The starter he mentioned - thin sliced parma ham with melon and fresh figs - sounded so appealing that I knew I had to have it. And when he started listing the mains, it was the scalloped veal that caught my attention. The ham was fantastic. Simply amazing. With the sweet melon and the soft figs, I cleared my plate down the glaxing. And the veal! OMG, so much garlic and so much flavor. I was tearing off pieces of bread and chasing the last few bits around the plate to get all of it. Simply heavenly. An excellent, excellent meal. If you're looking for a romantic date night or perhaps entertaining business colleagues, Pepe Sale is the place for you. Truly magnificent!

This Sardinian restaurant is one that I passed last time I was in Reading, but I judged the book by…read moreits cover and decided to pass since it was located in a semi sketch "alley" and nobody was in the restaurant. Well this time around our host planned a group dinner there and had good things to say about the restaurant. There were 11 of us and we were immediately seated when we arrived. The waters came right away and throughout the evening our servers were very attentive. I started with the antipasti plate that had meats and cheese and it was really good. For my main I ordered the chicken wrapped in bacon and stuffed with mozzarella and it was amazing. The chicken was juicy and full of flavor. The food was great and all my colleagues enjoyed their meals as well. The only annoying thing was that the server kept correcting our pronunciation of every menu item. None of us tried to pretend we were Italian and did our best to pronounce it, but he was kind of being a jerk in his reprimanding of our poor language. But even with that annoyance, I'd go back when I'm in Reading.