I've been going to the Medici for about ten years. My parents live in the village and it was a favorite spot of my dad's because he could have a drink and walk home. The food was always decent but the menu didn't ever seem to change: even the "specials" were the same every time. A refurbishment was long overdue and I was interested to see how much had changed since the last time I visited.
We turned up at 6:30 on a Saturday evening with no reservation. The restaurant was pretty busy because of their "family hour" promotion--20% off selected menu items between 5:00 and 6:30. They found us a table on condition that we leave at 8. No-one has ever suggested to me that I need to leave the restaurant at a given time and this seemed really unprofessional. No-one offered to take our coats until I asked if they had a cloak room. Perhaps people prefer to keep their coats with them?
The room was fairly noisy because of the large number of kids. The walls are very dark, plenty of mirrors, the lighting is very low. The overall effect might be dramatic, romantic, or pretentious depending on your point of view. The lighting was so low that both my mother and my brother had trouble reading the menus.
The menu is quite extensive although not very adventurous. The wine list similarly unexciting and the choice of wines by the glass is limited to red, white, or rose.
I thought the food was pretty good but the service was negligent. We seem to have been seated at the "forgotten table", right by the door. It was not at all clear who was our waiter and we spoke to at least three different waiters during the course of our visit.
Not bad, not great. Still plenty of room for improvement. read more