I am so lucky to live within walking distance of this restaurant. It is a small neighbourhood…read moreItalian that punches well above its weight both for food and service. I have tried most things on the menu and have never made a bad choice. Their pizzas are spectacular - dough which is tasty, springy and light with a crispy bottom, absolutely perfect for dipping in your friend's spag bol! They make their own secret recipe tomato sauce, which is AMAZING. (Actually it's not a secret recipe at all - Raff will happily share how he makes it, but it sounds more intriguing as a secret!) They have a daily specials board that includes local seasonal produce in really imaginative dishes. I have gone into the kitchen to watch the chefs making a crab ravioli, moments before I ate it! (It was sublime!) Their desserts are too good. They have their regular items such as the tiramisu which melts in the mouth and the Italian ice cream that has real bits of strawberry, pistachio, vanilla seeds and chocolate in it. They also have special desserts that often are just too tempting - sticky toffee pudding, Eton mess with mango, interesting cheesecakes etc. The coffee is delicious and just perfect after a scrumptious meal there! The service is lovely and the atmosphere is down to earth, fun and friendly. I would urge you to go - if you go on a Thursday/Friday/Saturday you might want to book as it is extremely popular with locals.

I really have to rescind for 1 star review for not being able to book the day the restaurant…read moreclosed. I found the restaurant on Facebook. And booked a table that way. The welcome was excellent. The food just what you'd want excellent. I had slow roasted pork belly. Really Italian. Will I I be here during my next visit? Definitely

I have been here once and found it to be very good. Fresh and authentic. It's not cheap but you get…read morewhat you pay for. Nice decor and you can sit inside or out. Friendly staff and I would definitely go back.

Another Italian that gives me a smile every time we meet! L'aragosta can be located in Elmers End…read morearound the green. It's a really great restaurant with the friendliest manager! You can probably get a table any time but it's worth booking to avoid disappointment. Very traditional :)

went last week, best food i have had in ages. very friendly staff, very clean restaurant, and great…read moreservice

From the owner: italian restaurant home made bread,various meats and fish…read morefish, pasta and gluten free pasta our specialty is fresh lobster with linguine pasta

The decor is a little dated and the service a bit short but there is an extensive menu of Italian…read moreitems. We came for some pasta topped off with a bottle of wine. The food was good and decent with good sized portions. We ended up taking the leftovers home. Not a destination spot but worth stopping by if you're in the area and after some pasta. They let you linger which is a benefit!

So we went back to Friends of Flavours last night to see what they have done to the place after…read morebuilding the extension on the front. It's much bigger with more tables. We ordered two prawn dishes to start - a special tempura prawns and some regular prawns from the starter menu. Both dishes arrived with huge prawns still with their heads. AND their poop shoots! We asked the waitress why they hadn't been cleaned properly, and she said "because they're fresh". Not quite good enough, we said - technically there was faeces on our plates, and that was not making my mouth water. "it's just how it's done here". We sent the dishes back and could hear the chefs yelling about "that woman" from the kitchen, so we paid for our drinks and left, worried about having pissed the chef off just before our main course was to be prepared. It was not a happy experience and I'm pretty sure we won't be going back.

Local all renovated and bad reviews relate to previous restaurant management many years ago. Please…read moretry a genuine italian restaurant.

Average place, one gets tempted because it is always so full but must be more the seniors with big…read morepockets or simply a money laundering factory. Food is bland over priced and very very rude standard racists waiters.

Good calm atmosphere and very good pasta in this true Italian restaurant. The Spaguetti Carbonara…read morewill not disappoint you.

This is an nice environment in a good location and Italian run. I have only been once but I found…read morethe food a little bland I'm afraid. I think it is the kind of place you won't have a bad meal but you won't have a great one either. Reasonable prices and a good place to meet friends and catch up.

This was an unexpectedly lovely little pizzeria - I rarely come out to this end of town and don't…read moreknow it well, but found some recommendations online and am glad I took them. The decor is cute, quaint and traditional - there isn't a large amount of seating, but it's perfectly cosy and laid out. The rosemary foccacia was delicious (would have been nice to have a little dish to dip in olive oil/balsamic, but we made do with pouring it directly onto the board). The pizzas were very, very good indeed: tasty dough, nice thin base, and plentiful, good quality toppings. Aside from the fact that I don't live anywhere nearby, I'd definitely come back. A meal for two, including two large wines, two pizzas and the foccacia (which was easily big enough to share), came in at £37 before service charge, which I was pleasantly surprised by. Simple, traditional pizzas done well, and we left with a smile on our faces!

Outdated and disappointing venue. Staff were unwelcoming and neglectful. The decor was a horrific…read morethrowback to a 1910s cruise liner. The food was substandard and greasy, to think this was an establishment that was revered within the town is shocking. The no toilet roll in the toilets was an unsurprising addition.

Popped in for a quick pre-Christmas Sunday lunch with friends…read more Considering it was the Sunday before Christmas, we were lucky to get a table for four mid-day about four days before the booking. £19.95 for a three course lunch with pretty good options.The majority of the table ended up with butternut squash soup (excellent) roast beef roast with veggies and creme brulee. The roast orders came with a mountain of veggies for the table to share. We didn't even make a dent in it! For a last minute, low-key place outside of London it worked well, and it was packed full of families seeming to celebrate birthdays and Christmas, so it must be well known and reliable. Good quality and quantity for the prices, good service. Solid 3 stars.

Came here for lunch yesterday. Admittedly we were 15 mins late for our reservation, but as soon as…read morewe walked in we were told abruptly that the kitchen closed at 2pm. I would have turned around and left immediately had one of our party not be very keen to eat here. The experience did not improve much after that. The bread was sliced so thinly you barely got a mouthful and the olives tasted curiously medicinal. I had a very mediocre and lukewarm veal dish with salad overpowered by balsamic vinegar. The French fries were fresh. The children enjoyed their fried chicken and chips. The three wait staff were very inattentive and we almost had to shout to get one them to come to the table. We must have been grumbling because one of them eventually hovered over the table and then committed the cardinal sin of trying to join in on our private conversation! I wish we'd gone to the Pizza Express up the road!

I went to G I Trattoria Italiano for a friends birthday and it's a great place for a special…read moreoccasion. The restaurant is busy but not too noisy. The food was the best part. I ordered a fish starter and a sirloin steak for my main course. The fish was tender and well seasoned. The steak was perfect. I tried a few dishes that others had, including a crab starter, sea bass and pasta and meatballs and they were all very tasty. The service was not a hundred percent and there was a glitch with their card machine at the end of the meal, but purely on food and atmosphere G I Trattoria Italiano (known as Gi's to most people that go there) is a quality restaurant

My husband and I stumbled upon this restaurant, and we couldn't have been happier with our choice…read more The owner was so nice, and was very attentive. We had garlic bread with mozzarella, and it was delicious. It had simple ingredients, but tasted very fresh; from the bread to the olive oil and garlic. We then order two different pasta dishes, which were very delicious! The penne aribiata was amazing. I love spicy food, and this dish was perfect. Dont go without trying the tiramisu! It's also amazing!

From the owner: Pizza, pasta and other traditional dishes, made with the freshest ingredients for an authentic…read moreItalian taste.