25th June 2008
A great local Italian
I stay frequently at the Holiday Inn at Hanger Lane, and had despaired of finding a decent restaurant locally, but then I discovered Paolo's. It is just around the corner from the Park Royal tube station and about 10 minutes walk from the Holiday Inn, located in a side street.
Run by real Italians the food was some of the best and most authentic I have experienced in a UK Italian restaurant. I had a avocado, green leaf and bacon salad as a starter, and an entrecote steak on a bed of rocket as a main course. Both looked delicious and the taste was just as good. The dessert, chocolate mousse cake was OK, but probably not homemade. Coffee was excellent and the white house wine very enjoyable. Cost for the above, with mineral water and 2 glasses of wine, including service came to about £35. I have to say that all the food I saw passing by my table looked wonderful.
You can tell a lot about a restaurant from the way the treat a lone diner - some seem to resent giving up aa precious table for just one person! I went on a Tuesday night and the place was a third full. Service was welcoming, efficient and attentive, reasonably friendly but not overbearing.
This is an unpretentious, well run local italian restaurant.
A little gem in this area of London and highly recommended.