Il Baretto

I have now tried the resturant 3 times. Each time the service was awful. The manager and assistant manager are the most rude individuals that i have ever met. How do they think they can get away with such poor service. Its too bad. I hope the owner reads the other reviews as well and sees a common theme. Thats the last time i will go.

Food is not bad. Unfortunately the place is too popular —- even on a week night —- and the staff have a terrible attitude. So expect to wait 45 minutes after the time of your reservation before you can sit down, and don't expect the staff to be sympathetic.

wine list is short and a bit overpriced,but no complaints qualitywise
menu has quite a lot to offer and food quality is good,nice presentation as well
nb:ask for bread if you really need it
no complaints about service,actually maybe even too many waiters around
worth trying,only if you are short enough,as tables are very low

Nowhere near as good as its sister restaurants, SG london

First things first – if you not only appreciate good food for your money but also good service – do not eat at this restaurant. I have never received such offensive, rude patronising service from a manager as I did last night. I pride myself on enjoying good food and good service. So when an offer came to have dinner at Il Baretto on Blandford Street last night – I jumped at the chance. I checked the menu online beforehand and couldn’t wait to sample what they had on offer. Things started off fantastically – the atmosphere was wonderful and the menu looked so appealing that we all struggled to choose just one starter and main course. But the first couple of slip ups started occurring with the service. The waitress – as shy and sweet as she seemed kept forgetting drinks orders, dropping cutlery on members of our party and completely forgot to bring our white wine over from the ice bucket. But the starters came and redeemed the slight lapse in service as they were all delicious.

But the deciding point in the evening came with the main course. I had ordered the sirloin steak with rocket and parmesan and asked for it medium. It turned up and looked delicious – but one bite proved that not only was this dish not medium, it wasn’t even well done, a more apt description would be ‘leather on a plate’. But still, these things happen in a busy kitchen so no grudges held, I merely showed the waitress, pointed out that I had ordered my meat medium and awaited my new, correctly cooked main course as the first attempt was simple inedible (and as it cost £22 – one would expect a lot more). Whilst waiting for the new attempt, the manager came over – one would assume to apologise – but no, to patronise. He came and said to me “you want the next dish medium rare then” implying that I had ordered incorrectly and sent back a medium steak because I wanted something different to what I had ordered. I responded that I was quite happy with it medium but the previous dish was so overcooked it was inedible. He then said it was my fault for taking too long to eat the dish as, as it is served in a hot pan, it carries on cooking until eaten. But surely if you order a medium steak, it should be presented to you medium and the fact that it carries on cooking on the plate should be factored into the cooking time. At a time when most staff would be apologetic he resorted to an accusatory, patronising manner that was both rude and offensive . One very big mark against them.

Twenty five minutes after I sent the first dish back, when all the rest of my party had finished their dishes and started to fall asleep, my dish still hadn’t arrived – bear in mind I was waiting on a medium steak – not a slow cooked meal. It got to the point that I said to my waiter that they should just cancel my dish as I had lost my appetite. But he then turned up with the dish apologising for the delay, I then said to the apologetic waiter that this had got ridiculous how long I had had to wait – he whimpered off. Then 30 seconds later – the same manager from before marched up to our table, saying “she said what” out loud as he stomped towards me. I responded saying this was ridiculous how long I had waited. He said they were busy and it is standard to wait twenty minutes for a main course – that may be the case on the first attempt but not when they crucified their first attempt at your dish. I pointed out that it wasn’t my fault the dish had to be redone, it was theirs and cooking it should have been a priority and that the waiter said there had been problems in the kitchen– a point which he refuted. So not only had he been patronising, then the service had been painfully slow, but then he refused to even apologise for the delay. But to add insult to injury and just to bolster his ego he throws in, in once again, an extremely patronising tone –“You had better start eating this one quickly before it ends up too well cooked for you”. I cannot even begin to explain how offensively he was acting towards me when he should have been apologetic.

So as soon as the dish came we asked for the bill – which of course, had service included. So in summary what can I say about this place? The food – very nice Italian food, the atmosphere – lively and fun, the staff and service – abysmal. And for that reason I could not recommend this restaurant to anyone and would firmly encourage you to take your custom elsewhere. Had the manager been graceful and apologetic for what was obviously his restaurant’s fault – I would be the first to recommend the food here (aside from the steak!) but service that poor, accusatory and offensive cannot be ignored – the service at Pizza Express is more gracious and polite and a Pizza Express bill doesn’t come to over £200!

There are a lot articles on Il Baretto – sister of Zuma, Roka and La Petite Maison. This place just is not the same as the others. This does not mean that it is not good, it just ain't the same.

The basement is downstairs – that is usually where you find these things. It has been improved after the recent revamp and is a little more airy than before. The bar upstairs is small but you can quite happily have a drink and a bowl of pasta.

I have eaten here quite a few times and have even hired the whole restaurant for a party. Whether this means I have had different service to other reviewers, I don't know. Agreed the service can be awkward and sometimes stilted and they need to work on it. However previous reviews of Mineral water being filled with tap water are just a little overblown.

As far as I can see they are trying to bring a little bit of London charm to a traditional Italian Trattoria. They may have fallen a little below the mark with the service but so far they have always produced on the food.

The sharing starters are always good – carpaccio, vitello tonnata, thinly slice porchetta all as they should be. The calamari and zuccthini fritti were crispy, salty and hot and are my fave.

Pizzas are big and good, the pizza oven from the previous incarnation has been painted and always turns out a crispy base. They may possibly be a little pricey.

The mains are again a tad expansive, but they are big. The paillards are big enough for two people, which when reconciled at the end of the meal does make the mains cheaper that pizza express!

Puddings are outstanding, the new pastry chef really knows her stuff.

The wines are mainly good italian, some are a bit on the high side again but they cost that at most places.

I will keep going back.

There is little to commend Il Baretto, but much to dislike, the worst of which is the cramped, dismal basement setting, in which even Ferran Adrià's illuminating cuisine would have difficulty shining. If only the food had been anything better than average, I might have been tempted to try it again, to see if it was just an off day. Alas, I won't be as I fear it wasn't.

The maitre d could be more civil to his staff as opposed to shouting at them when they were talking to a client – me! Obviously mistakingly thinking that talking Italian would not be understood. Big mistake and I took my booking for 12 elsewhere. Have eaten at the bar in the evening but it is a very tight area and gets busy.

Oh what a disappointment. I love Zuma so much and was wanting the same sort of execution, the same thought of style and the same ‘out of the box thinking’ but all I got was a normal Italian with carpaccio, pastas and pizzas in an ‘OK’ basement. Whilst I understand that they are targeting executives from the nearby dreary Baker Street offices as opposed to the beautiful Chelsea crowd, with pizzas at £12 you need to deliver a lot more. The service whilst keen is simply not trained. Multiple waiters and waitresses came to our table asking the same thing or removing or replacing items (sugar for coffee came and went twice). I’m afraid it is the bar at Alloro for me any time or to sum it up…I would walk over mountains for Zuma but just a block for Il Baretto.

Be careful 24.6.08 I was charged for 3 bottles of wine when the table only had 2 then the following night 25.6.08 the same thing happned to a group of friends they were also charged for 3 bottles of wine having consumed only 2. Also bottled water is opened for you away from the table i am convinced that tap water is used.

The food is very good but some of the waiters one in particular seem to be a surly arrogant bunch. Service is poor.

Went to Baretto with a friend on a Friday night, relatively late around 10pm. I was positively surprised how busy the place was. The atmosphere was good, although it's a shame the venue is in the basement. We sat down and were first ignored for about 10 mins, then we ordered two beers and got the menus. 15 minutes later, still no beers. Dozens of staff were running around like headless chicken and we asked several of them to check for the beers without any luck. After I almost went to the bar myself (where they had been standing for a while) we finally received them.

We then ordered our starters and mains. Another 20 minutes later my friend got his starter. I was not so lucky and had to wait another 15 minutes for mine, after which I got fed up and cancelled it. At all times, several waiters were running around, different ones asking us whether we were ready to order (we had ordered a long time ago…) and promising us to check on our order, all rather farcical.

The mains eventually arrived, I had a pizza and my friend pasta. I must say the food tasted very good once it finally arrived. The pizza was top notch from a wood-fire oven and my friend's pasta was also very good. We didn't have time to order dessert as by now we had been sitting there for nearly 2 hours.

Overall, value for money at Baretto is pretty poor. If I have to pay £12(!) for a Caprese Salad (NB that's a starter portion) then I not only want extremely good quality but also service that it absolutely spot on. Maybe they were still in “opening mode” and getting to grips with the staff, but overall we were not impressed. I'm not sure where the £42 average price per head comes from on SM as we certainly didn't get away with that. And that was for pizza/pasta without wine. The Secondi were well beyond in terms of price.

Popped in for an early evening meal a couple of months back. Two starters (one from the specials of the day), two mains (one from the specials) and not a lot of wine and the bill came to £85. The food was okay but no better. Very poor valiue. We could have eaten down the road at L'Autre Pied for that. The service was over-friendly and we were fools not to ask the prcies of the specials of the day which were read to us. They sounded good, they weren't exotic, and they shouldn't have been so much pricier than the food on the main menu. This place is a schmoozy rip off. The previous set up there was less fancy, more honest, and the food was as good if a bit old school.

I am amazed at the previous review as I was there on the following evening, Saturday 6th June and I can honestly I had the absolutely best time. Admittedly I wasn't paying the bill, but we did have the starter plates to share and our carpaccio of sea bass and our carpaccio of veal were certainly double portions and both so unusual and delicious. My main course tuna steak was requested to be well done and it was, it was beautifully cooked and took up half the large plate at least. I had no complaints at all. The restaurant was very busy, I had called at around lunchtime and requested a ‘quiet table for two’ , on arrival I was greeted like an old friend. We had a drink in the bar and were never put under any pressure to move to the table. The suited maitre d's were amusing, professional, very knowledgeable and great fun. Nothing was too much trouble and the whole evening went without a hitch. I am so pleased, that this location is back up and running with a great place, I was a huge fan and went there all the time about 3 years ago when it was Spigetta. I can't wait to go back.

Il Baretto was one of the worst value for money meals that I've had. The food was well cooked but not outstanding. A group of seven of us paid £35 a head for one moderately priced bottle of wine, one dessert and four starters on top of our mains. The pasta portions were tiny, as indeed were the starters (supposedly sharing plates), and the £15 and up grill options came as a solitary piece of grilled fish/meat without any accompaniments bar some rocket and cherry tomatoes. The side dishes that need to be ordered with the grill options were measly at best, and at £4-£5 represented terrible value/a complete rip-off. Overall I think it's a shame that their pricing and portion sizes are so horribly wrong because the standard of the cooking was actually quite high. Unfortunately I left the restaurant still starving, having spent a considerable amount of money that could be far more wisely spent elsewhere. I won't be going back.