Riva Restaurant

janes

Complete Change!! 19th February 2009

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I ate at Riva on Valentines night, as we were going to a show later in the evening. Having eaten at the restaurant before and been disappointed, having heard that it had been taken over i decided to give it another try...and my goodness what a change!!

The food was fantastic, it was excellently presented, freshly cooked and i was pleased to see that the typical valentines restricting set menu was not being used.

The service was very good, consistant throughout and nothing was too much trouble.

The menu had a lot of choice and i struggled to choose. In the end i went for Pasta Paradiso (chicken & prawn pasta) and my partner had an aubergine dish with grilled and marinaded vegetables and the most gorgeous looking king prawns!!

Anyone who hasnt had a good experience at Riva in the past i really would recommend trying it again. Even though the name and decor are the same, the experience is not!!

ordinaryperson

Disappointing! 11th April 2008

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We ate at Riva last night, prior to a show. How disappointing! My starter was marinaded vegetables, which consisted of a couple of slices of roasted pepper and aubergine. I may be wrong, but it was as if they had been tipped from a commecial jar of antipasti; which I suspect they were. It was absolutely swimming with oil. My main course was no better. Spaghetti with a sauce created from oil, garlic, chill - and shrimps. The ratio of pasta to sauce was just ridiculous. A mountain of pasta to a tablespoon of sauce! And the sauce was a sea of oil and garlic. I love garlic, but I don't expect to be breathing the fumes 24 hours later!

There was very little about the meal which seemed freshly cooked. There wasn't even a slight gesture towards a garnish.

My partner's meal was slightly better. His steak was just about okay. The side order of chips seemed as if they had been refried in butter. They were bright yellow! We both had spinach and I think it came out of the freezer.

We won't be eating at Riva again. This is our third visit. The only good thing about the last time we ate there, is the fact that they missed some of the drinks off the bill!

Oh, and beware the dodgy air con. All tables next to the window have a distinct down draught of cold air. If you sit next to the river facing side, you will suffer a different probem; cold air from the double doors.

What can I say that is good about this restaurant? The waiting staff are friendly and nice. Not their fault. Someone needs to sort out what goes on in terms of food prep - and ingredients, too. This restaurant doesn't quite match up to the 'Fratelli' brand. Frankly, I think they need a kick up the bum! ;o )

Gladslad

Riva Restaurant, Peterborough 14th February 2008

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My wife and I are regular theatregoers, and before the Key Theatre closed for renovations we often used to have a pre-theatre meal at the restaurant. When the renovations were completed an Italian restaurant named the Riva occupied the eating area.
Two weeks ago we visited the restaurant and chose meals from the a la carte section of the menu which proved to be very disappointing so we decided to give the pizzas a try the next time we went.
Today we have been to see an excellent show at the theatre but the outing was somewhat ruined by our pre-show pizzas which regretfully turned out to be amongst the worst we have tasted in a restaurant. The chips had also been refried, and the service left much to be desired.