Walked in, used the loo, saw the kitchen, spoke to the owner, walked out.
So, we were in Hythe looking for a pizza and this seemed the place. We walked in, the restaurant was completely empty, which should have given us our first clue. The person behind the bar was doing a crossword and was very obviously not Italian - second clue.
We sat down and I went off to use the loo. The kitchen door was left open on my way through and I peaked in. It was filthy. I went to the loo, it was marginally better, but didn't fill me with confidence. I walked back and decided to look in the kitchen again, but they had shut the door by this time. I was unhappy, but didn't want to cause a fuss, and I did have my Hep A booster recently...
I looked through the menu, was completely uninspired and then my eyes landed on a 1.50 'cover charge'. Now, having lived in Italy I know that this is routine over there, but not in bloody Hythe! We would have to pay 3 quid extra for eating there, for no good reason at all. I questioned the manager, who only appeared at this point. He was extremely aggressive and told me it was 'for seating down'. I switched to Italian, told him his fortune and we left.
Since deciding not to eat there, I checked their hygiene rating - it's a whopping 2 out of 5! Very glad I trusted my instinct and left. read more