Vittoria's is the perfect restaurant to sample a real taste of Italy. Renowned for its high level of service and fresh Italian food, book online with Vittoria's on Leith Walk and experience over 40 years of history. You can now also book online at Vittoria's on the bridge and at La Favorita too.
Lombardi's Ristorante Grill
Merchant Square, Candleriggs
- Food served: Sun–Thu noon–10pm; Fri/Sat noon–11pm
- Pre-theatre times: Mon–Fri 5–6.30pm
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 5
- Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of main courses), Gluten-free options, Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Takeaway, Pre-theatre menu
- Music on stereo: no music
- Capacity: 180
- Largest group: 180
- Open since: 2007
- Average price 2 courses:
£8.95 (set lunch)
£17 (evening meal) - Pre-theatre price: £10.95
- House wine: £14.95 per bottle
This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.
With more than a half-dozen eateries vying for customers in the Merchant Square, the competition can be a bit fierce at the renovated market – now a dining and entertainment destination in the heart of the Merchant City. Previously a French restaurant, this unit has been refit and now flies the Italian flag. With the cobblestones, red and white checked table cloths and traditional furniture, the illusion of outdoor piazza-style dining in the large courtyard is broken by the fact that fairy lights, not stars, twinkle overhead. The menu carries Italian standards, with the addition of interesting veal dishes. A generous antipasto platter consists of cured meats (including bresaola and Parma ham) along with olives, peppers and a rocket salad given a boost by a particularly spicy dressing. Pizzas are a good size and notable for the chef's attention to detail, with each little cherry tomato identically cut and opened to give the appearance of little red lilies on a pond. The calzone is notable for the unusual filling of meatballs and mushrooms. Two huge profiteroles are just what's required to round off a meal.
- High point: Charming Italian waiters
- Low point: Surrounding bars can be loud
Comments
- 1. rb, Glasgow – 24 March 2008, 5:23pmReport
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I have just returned from lunch here at around 1.30 on the afternoon of Bank Holiday Monday, 24 March.
In all respects, this was truly the most appalling meal that I have ever had the misfortune to have had.
Upon arrival we were greeted with a surly-faced Italian waiter, who supplied us with the a la carte evening menu, and would only supply the lunch menu upon request, and the without an apology. In ordinary circumstances, a surly-faced Italian waiter is often part of the charm, however this one clearly couldn’t be bothered to be there. Our drink orders were taken, but there was delay of some 10 minutes before these arrived. After around 15 minutes, our orders were taken - Tuna and Bean Salad for me then Lasagne, and Mushrooms followed with Meatballs for my partner. We also ordered 1 portion of fries, as well as garlic bread.
After some 20 minutes, our starters arrived. My Tuna was of the standard that I could have rustled up in about 25 seconds with an onion and a tin each of tuna and cannellini beans. However, instead of being mixed together, the tuna had the consistency one might expect of tuna in a pre-packed shop sandwich, after being mashed together. The same fate appears to have met the beans. Having asked for no rocket in my salad, I was somewhat surprised to find that the garnish consisted of nothing but rocket and a single cherry tomato. I asked the waiter for some oil and vinegar, and was supplied with olive oil and the same clear vinegar one might expect to be liberally shaken over chips in a chip shop. My partner reported that the mushrooms were particularly delicious however.
Around 35 minutes later our main course arrived. My lasagne came with no accompaniments other than a paper napkin under the luke-warm serving dish. Lucky, I commented to my partner that we had ordered fries and garlic bread. However, despite our waiter having confirmed our fries and garlic order after taking our original order no such side dishes appeared. In terms of the standard of the food it was on a par with a frozen ready meal. I had noted from a neighbouring table that their meatball dish contained around 6 meatballs. However, my partners dish had only 3, along with a toasted roll, and was just as luke-warm as my lasagne. Needless to say, we ate our main meals as quickly as we could (which didn’t take long on account of the very small portions, even for lunch), and asked for the bill. Surprisingly, the bill was brought to us very swiftly. However, we ended up having to scrabble around in our pockets to find the £25.30 in cash as we were fed up waiting on the waiter with the chip and pin device. Luckily we were not charged for the no-show fries and garlic bread, but I did note that we had been charged an extra pound for my glass
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