• Added: 29th of October 2007
• Area: Birmingham
• Category: Restaurants

Birmingham B2 5BN
0121 633 0251

arianova said
Superb Italian food
Coming through the doors of San Carlo, the only thing that reminded me this is a restaurant and not some high street hairdresser, or floorist, was the tens of tomatoes and wine bottles arranged near the entrance ( as opposed to make-up products and wigs)

- But please, don't be put off by the kitch - over the top pretentious decor for San Carlos is not to be judged by its entrance.

The Food
Quickly realising the food is going to be great by looking at what everyone else is eating, I ordered a carbonara as a starter, a Chicken specialite of the chef and petis pois on the side. The Carbonara was exquisite - the kind I wouldn't mind having every day for a month, the chicken was also very good and the petit pois where very nicely made. My friends where having pizza and crab pasta which was both excellent. Unfortunately we didn't try the fish as we where all not in the mood.

The food came in a timely manner and we the atmosphere was very positive (after we recovered from the shock of the hairdresser-like entrance)

Desserts
The tiramissu was great, I've had better twice recently but this was definetly amongst the better ones. The Espresso is a must have as it was truly great.

The wine
The wine list was slightly more demanding for the wallet. At the bottom price we found a beautyful Valpolicela of which we had 2, priced at around £17 each.

The service
Not so long after we sat we where greeted by a very rude and most likely deaf italian, possibly the owner, who gave us a terrible second impression. In fact if wheren't so hungry we would have possibly walked out. The rest of the service was far from great but still ok for the restaurants price-range. We where served by different waitors for the rest of the meal but the rest of the staff was rather cold as well - even though Italian.

We paid £35 each (4 people with 2 bottles of wine)

Overall great restaurant, would have given 5 stars if not for the rude italian and the hairdresser entrance. Oh and if you might bump in to Swen Goransson apparently, as there pictures of him and other celebrities hagning from the walls, as the Italian tradition has it.

• Added: 23rd of October 2007
• Area: Barnsbury
• Category: Restaurants

London N1 1QN
020 7359 0630

arianova said
Bad experience all-round
If you must sit, dine, nibble or have a coffee at gallipoli, you'll soon find out that there's many nasty surprises in the menu. The dolmas as mentioned in the above review are out of the can, the turkish coffee is simply bad, and the mezze is a mixture of average and bad dishes.

Fancy Turkish, Greek or mediterranean food? your best bet around the area is the Pasha - hands down.