Eateries

Valentino’s, Worcester – Review by HungryOwl

On October 8, 2018 by

Valentino’s opened it’s doors in 1988 in Upton-upon-Severn and moved to it’s current location in Worcester in 1997. So you can image that when you say you fancy an Italian meal in Worcester lots of people will ask “Have you tried Valentino’s?”. It’s really close to the Odeon Cinema where we were also going that day, so it seemed like a good excuse to try it out.

We were greeted and seated by a friendly waiter who gave us food menus, he also also pointed out their special for the evening. A few minutes later a waitress appeared with a jug of tap water and glasses, then asked us if we ready to order. I tried to explain that we had not been given a drinks menu and we would like some wine. She replied “Ok, what wine?” Again I explained that we did’t have a drinks menu and hence did not know what wine there was on offer. She smiled pleasantly and didn’t move from her spot.  FattyCat then tried to explain before she replied ‘oh’ and walked away.

Ages later she returned with the drinks menu.

Finally we ordered food and wine. When the wine (Valpolicella £18.95) arrived it poured out for both us and we weren’t offered the option to taste first. So it was a good job that it was good.\

We had both ordered that evening’s special main course (£18.95) – Rib Eye steak with mushrooms, onion rings and fries. Both steaks were cooked as we had requested and melted in the mouth. The onion rings were crisp and dreamy.

There was nothing here to fault in taste – presentation could have been prettier and with such a small table the plates were far too large.

Dessert was a complete disappointment. The Tiramisu was £4.99 each, so a small slice. The sponge was dry and didn’t have even the slightest hint off coffee. The cream tasted of double cream and not mascapone. Then there was this weird extremely sour orange sauce on the plate.

The espresso was prefect though.

The restaurant opened a 6pm and we arrived at 6:15pm – there were already people seated and the atmosphere was relaxed throughout our stay. But considering this was October and we were sat right next to the door it was unbearably hot and I was glad to escape onto the street.

I don’t know how to sum up the evening – the main was so good and the dessert so bad. The staff were friendly and place seemed clean tidy. Would I return? Probably not. There is far too much choice in Worcester if I fancy Italian food and I’m not just referring to the large chains; there are also fabulous independents that I would prefer.’, ‘

2018-10-08