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Ida - review by dzine

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:25:20 +0000

Ida - review by dzine

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: italian, family & home feel, expensive

Based on a friend's recommendation my wife & I were looking forward to an evening of good, reasonably priced local food.
You couldn't deny the staff were keen to feed us, we barely had the menus in our hands for a minute when we were asked if we had made our decision. When they returned five minutes later we both opted for a pasta dish to start followed by sea bream and rabbit and to accompany a bottle of chianti.
The homemade tagliatelle and accompanying sauces were fine, but could have done with a bit more seasoning and were absolutely not worth Â£11 each. We had to remind our waitress about our wine as this had not arrived prior to the food. After the first taste we wished it hadn't arrived at all - it certainly put the rough into ruffino. To be fair, the waitress was happy to change the bottle and the reasonably priced house red we went for was very drinkable.
The waitress brought the fish and the side salad for my wife and when she saw my confusion asked if something was missing. Err, yes, my main course. This flakiness was consistent through all three waitresses.
My wife was happy with the sea bream but felt the chef had gone overboard with the overpowering sundried tomatoes and olives, not to mention the inch of dressing that drowned her side salad. My rabbit was well cooked, but the accompanying roast potatoes were grey once cut open.
My wife ended the evening with a dessert entitled 'black and white chocolate ice-cream' which turned out to be a bowl of vanilla topped with dark & white 'chocolate' buttons. OK, Ida's hadn't broken the trade descriptions act, but one expects something more for Â£4.50.
Ida's seems to have all the right intentions to deliver good, honest Italian food, but unfortunately based on our experience it falls well short. The service was beyond flakey given three women were looking after less than thirty people, the food was average, the chianti was undrinkable and the the whole thing was massively overpriced. Add to that no loo seat in the ladies, and it will be a bloody miracle if we ever go back.

Ida - review by TimParlett

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:20:36 +0000

Ida - review by TimParlett

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: italian, family & home feel, good value, crowded

Very good authentic Italian food in a small family restaurant.

I spent last weekend in Milan and this was just as if I as still there.

It was packed last night so service was slow (I guess they were shortstaffed ... or maybe they weren't expecting Thursday to be completely packed - there were people waiting too), but the food was great (as it had been the 3 times I've been before) and we weren't in too much of a hurry anyway.

And the bill didn't bite back: it all seems a reasonable price.

Ida - review by paulash134

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:43:58 +0000

Ida - review by paulash134

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: italian, family & home feel, good value, crowded, lively

18 Oct 07 - I was told that the place we were eating last night was lovely, and I wasn't dissappointed. I'm there to be with friends, eat and drink and enjoy the ambiance, the place was clean and tidy, well run, efficient, pleasant, the people working there are helpful, discreet, charming, work well/hard together. The food we had was good and enough, with the starter and main. I am recommending the place to my friends and hope that the family that run the restaurant do well.

Ida - review by BrianGannon

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:58:28 +0000

Ida - review by BrianGannon

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: italian, family & home feel, good value

Can't understand Jasmine's review - what was she really looking for? I've been there a lot since Ida opened: it's been relaxing and straightforward (Jasmine's right about the lack of pretension) - and the food's been delicious (I've generally stuck with the anti-pasti and primi).

Queen's Park has plenty of very average, overpriced trend spots, if that's what you want. Ida a hugely refreshing alternative. Unlike Jasmine, I like the home-made decorations, and the home-made pasta. I like the fact that I can eat an excellent evening meal here with no ceremony and at a reasonable price. When I need ponce, I can head to Salusbury Road and pay through the nose for it.

Ida - review by RosaRiccorivo

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:44:51 +0000

Ida - review by RosaRiccorivo

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: cheap eat italian food family home feel

in may i went to london, i am italian , and after seeing the british museum , river trip, the tower of london ecc. ecc. by the way we went to an italian restaurant. (longing for italian food ).Amazing , one of the best home made italian food i ever tasted. the tagliatelle al ragu that i eat were delicius, the baccala was wonderful, and the tiramisu was superb. When the owner and his wife, Avi and Simonetta came to ask if everything was ok ,i was surprised that there italian was perfect. and more surprise for me was the food that i stil remember. next time to london,city,museum and again to avi and simonetta. i do recomand.

Ida - review by Jasmine3

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 21:49:17 +0000

Ida - review by Jasmine3

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: italian

We were really excited to hear of this new, unpretentious Italian restaurant - family run, well sourced ingredients - none of the Locatelli pretentiousness, just great food reasonably priced and close to home.

Oh dear.... what a disappointment. Bresaola seemed amazing value at £4.50 - but the uniform shape and tell tale 'straight out of the vacuum pack' shine were a give away. The lack of any taste whatsoever was another. With at least three excellent delis within a half mile radius there is really no excuse for this poor quality.

Pasta dishes were bland and tasteless - why bother making your own pasta just to plonk it on the plate with no discernible flavour? The advertised porcini were visible but tasteless.

So far so bad but at least it was cheap. However this final consolation was out of the window with the arrival of the main courses - seafood skewers were dry and - a bit of a theme this - tasteless. Fillet of beef (£12)was a tiny, but tiny piece of what we strongly suspected was a supermarket minute steak The accompanying side dish of 'al dente' broccoli was overcooked to mush and an outrageous £3.50.

All in all this was without question one of the worst meals we have had in ages. The service and decor (kiddies drawings on the wall, faux naif lettering on menus etc)hint at 'charmingly amateurish' - no it isn't , it's just bad. However I'm sure that its overt child-friendliness alone will keep the yummies of queen's park jostling prams and SUVs at the door for a while yet,dahling.
By the way I wanted to give this place no stars at all but I wasn't allowed - hence the one!

Ida - review by meejahoar

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 11:43:25 +0000

Ida - review by meejahoar

Rating: 3.9

Location: 167 Fifth Avenue, W10 4DT, London, United Kingdom

Phone: 020 8969 9853

Tags: Italian, family & home feel, good value, intimate, friendly, comfortable

Amazing place, run by husband and wife Avi and Simonetta Reichenbach. Food is utterly simple with the perfect bare minimum of ingredients. It is very like the food you get in Italy, as opposed to the food you get here in Italian restaurants: it's the freshness of the ingredients you're tasting more than anything else. You really need to eat antipasti and piattis primi and secondi and don't forget desert. The house wines are both good and Avi keeps a good selection of dessert wines.

All the carpaccio starters (we've had beef, tuna and swordfish, the beef with a celery puree and the others with olive oil and lemon juice) are succulent and perfect. For primi all the pasta is homemade; we've had spaghetti bolognese, seafood risotto and mushroom gnocchi all of which melted in the mouth. For secondi we've had steak saltimbocca (with pancetta, sage and mozzerella), swordfish and beef with artichokes, all mouthwateringly delicious. Desserts include possibly the best tiramisu we've ever tasted plus homemade ice creams, cakes and bombes.

Restaurant is calming and intimate (and is named after Avi's mother, Ida /EE-dah/, who taught him to cook. Avi and Simonetta will come and chat to you at your table. Do not miss this!

Tel: 020 8969 9853. Meal for two with wine, water and service about £60. Cards accepted.