Villa Rosa Restaurant
About
Italian
Price Range : Under $10 (££)
Location
Adress: 9 Craven Road, London, W2 3BP
Phone: +44 20 7402 2995
Work Hours
Business info
- groupGood for GroupsNo
Reviews
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Mary C.
Starving when I arrived at 8 pm. I selected a broth egg swirl soup and a fish dish and a glass of wine. Very delicious and well prepared. Attentive service.
Not too many people. It was a bank holiday. -
Jesse S.
Had a couple of evenings spent in London before we head out of town, wanted to find a good memorable restaurant that had good Ambience, great food, excellent customer service. Definitely found a Gem here! Ordered their Entrecote Steak. More food than I was expecting. What you made it great is that every single bite was very delicious. My wife ordered the stuff chicken breast with artichoke and garlic sauce on top. Very delicious as well
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Ed T.
On a street heavily populated by Italian restaurants, Villa Rosa stood out for us after a quick check on reviews, and we weren't disappointed!
We were greeted by the owner, and were also offered the option of swapping out any of the 3 mains on the set menu to whatever we fancied. I opted for the seafood marinara, and my girlfriend had the mushroom tagliatelle.
Both dishes came quickly and were large portions, with a great homemade and authentic feel to them. The marinara was good and had a huge amount of mussels in there (almost too many weirdly), and the mushroom tagliatelle was fantastic.
We finished with a tiramisu that was decent, but also seemed to be premade and bought from another company.
Still, for the atmosphere, price (£7 or so per main) and taste of the food - this is a great little Italian that we'd happily come back to in the area again. -
Fitfun F.
The service was excellent. We were the only patrons. Large servings for English breakfast. Tea included for £5.5
Worth a visit if you need big breakfast. Friendly waiting staff. Can't comment on Italian food. Our other order was for a bacon sandwich also came with big cup of tea for £3.5
We gave a 10% tip for the great service. -
Carrie P.
Tonight, I was drawn into the Villa Rosa Restaurant by a pre-set menu for 10.95 that included an appetizer, main dish and a glass of wine. It is kitty corner across from my hotel, so it looked like a good deal and a safe bet.
The decor was nice. It didn't look like a high end place, but it didn't look like a dive either. The restaurant was decorated with nice artwork, mirrors, red tablecloths and real flowers (a single yellow rose with a spring of mini yellow carnations on every second table) and it appeared spacious due to the lack of patrons at 5:30 p.m. on a Monday.
When I walked in, there was only 2 other tables with people. Two ladies were half way done their meal and one gentleman was paying to leave. I was seated right away by an older italian gentleman, but the service was slow getting a menu, and then even slower getting my order taken. The ladies that finished eating eventually asked for their bill. Later, I had to do the same.
I ordered the pre-set menu and my complete turnaround time from the time I sat down, to the time I left was two hours. I kid you not. In the two hours I sat there, I saw about four different staff members emerge, seat people, take orders, etc. as things got busy.
As you can tell, I am still charged up by half my evening sitting by myself in a restaurant. In my opinion, it appeared that the gentleman was not intending to neglect me. He likely didn't notice that I was restless, in my wooden chair with a laptop case, purse, carry-on, a blackberry and an iphone, trying to make the best use of time while I was eating my meal. I suspect that he thought I was busy, and that he didn't want to interrupt me. Okay enough of that.
The food - was not quite what I expected. It wasn't bad - it was really good value. Admittedly their house wine was one of the better ones I have had since I got to London two weeks ago.
The caprese salad was not quite what I expected, but not in a bad way. It had the standard tomato and cheese, but instead of balsamic, it has more of a creamy dressing over it. It tasted okay, but it wasn't what I expected. Mind you, it was my own fault. I ordered off the set menu - I did not read the description of the caprese salad before I ordered it.
The main dish I ordered was a baked ricotta and spinach canneloni. The pasta was homemade and the canneloni was good. However, around the canneloni, it was extremely creamy. I am not sure if it was in a white sauce, or what it was sitting in. It didn't taste bad at all, but again, not what I expected. I ate it all and forgot to ask what it was baked in.
I ordered the pistachio ice cream for dessert and it was to die for. Awesome!
I didn't mean to harp about the service, but that for me, is a big pet peeve. If you are in a rush and you are choosing this restaurant, I would suggest letting the waiter know right away. That may have helped matters for me instead of stewing about it. Mind you... I did have to lift my cash twice to get a bill delivered..... just give this place a try when you have the time.
The set menu was a very good deal, and even though the menu had a few surprises, it wasn't a bad meal. They weren't bad surprises (or good surprises), just.... surprises. Again, my fault for not finding a description of what was served.