Zafferano

We had dinner at Zafferano last week and it was once again an outstanding experience.
I am an Italian food lover and Zafferano still is, after all these years,my number one choice.
I had ossobuco ravioli, which were at their best, and shared an amazingly tender and juicy fiorentina steak with my girlfriend.
We ended the meal with the best tiramisu in town.

Outstanding meal and excellent attentive service.

One of the best Italian restaurants in central London with high standards of cooking and service. Pleasant and lively
atmosphere.

We came here again after a while without visiting in Autumn 2011 during fhe truffle season. I am a great admierer of Locanda Locatelli, and so have had (and kept ) a soft spot for Zafferano as the Locatielli saga began here as we all know. Now, there is the dreaded effect of “resting on one's laurels” but in the case of Zafferano what seems to have happened is “not changing the name” and “keeping the place open”. It was abysmal. I cannot believe that there are many places in London which have declined so far so quickly, and that in what is one of London's most desireable locations… The service was very poor, the white wine was warm, the pasta overcooked and notably mediocre, the mains completely unispired and the bill hefty. Even the restrooms were not properly attended to! What a pity, is all one can say.

we went to dine here in their private dining room downstairs as a businees evening. Too many were cramped round the table making it rather like having dinner on a long haul economy seat basis where all seats were taken.

The starters were a wide selection of Italian including seafood, salad selections, tomatoes with excellent Italian cheese and Parma ham & smoked beef. Everyone tucked in quickly.

I decided against Sea Bass as a main course as all reastaurants seem to be serving this nowadays, despite some attempt by the restaurant to persuade me , and I chose veal on the bone. A mistake. It was very undercooked, but my neighbour offered me a taste of the sea bass which was excellent. Vegetables to accompany the veal (which came with the dish) were mash ,well prepared and tasty, but the fesh peas were dull. The vegetable portions were too small for the amount of meat on the plate.

Sweets were a choice of sorbet of the day, tiramasu or apple pie & ice cream. I chose the last which was the best item I eat.

Wines, white Pinot Grigio, and a red from Sardinia were excellent- neither likely to be found outsde a specialist merchant.

All in all reasonable but spoilt by poor main course. Service was attentive and good.

We visited Zafferano with expectations of a superior Italian dining experience, the occassion being our wedding anniversary. Having stayed the weekend at a local hotel next to the restaurant, our expectations had further been built up by the concierge. Overall, we can only say that the meal was a disappointment. Our starters (Broccoli Soup for me, Scallops for my wife), were both good. The Mains (Lobster Fricasee – a £15 surcharge on the set menu price – and a Lobster Linguine) were poor. The lobster in both dishes was overcooked. My wife's pasta was not simply “al dente”, as the very amiable and genuinely nice manager suggested – it was uncooked. After having to send the pasta back, it came back relatively well cooked – but the fact was that the dish was tasteless, in our view. Not worth the total price – which was around £125, with one prossecco for me. We're sure that the reputation of this establishment is well deserved and the staff (save for one gentleman) are very polite and provide good service. Would we return or recommend this restaurant? A definite no.

Its taken me ages to get round to posting this, but generally Zafferano is ok, but certainly not exceptional.

I've always got high expectations when anywhere has that star from Mr Michelin, but few places genuinely seem to merit it, in so far as their quality is significantly greater than their non blessed counterparts.

A Monday lunchtime is never perhaps the best time to judge, especially when we arrived soon after opening, but the atmosphere was flat, very few customers, though it did pick up later in the meal. The room seems a little dated (see the pictures on their website and its exactly like that), comfortable but certainly not exceptional.

Food is well presented, but a bit bland and hard to tell why it grabbed a star – perhaps there were better choices on the menu than I made. We both skipped starters as work beckoned, but salt cod lacked flavour and apple tart was just ok, nothing exceptional.

Service is polite and attentive; amazing how taking an attractive blonde companion always grabs a waiters attention!

Value for money is perfectly reasonable in this part of town, but you don't feel you've had a bargain.

Do yourself a favour and walk the extra 2 minutes to Pantechnicon – it may not have that coveted star, but the food is bettter and so is the value for money.

Z was pretty busy before and after we left on Sunday evening which speaks volumes. Not enamoured by the menu at first glance and disappointed that lobster wasn’t available, I didn’t expect great things. Oh, did my mood lift as we went for 3 savoury courses plus a shared pud which had been prepped & cooked to perfection throughout. Not a revolutionary experience but just scrummy yummy. Impressed by Maitre d’hôtel’s recommendation for my main plus a Sicilian wine – the name I’m still trying to recall. Naturally an Italian leaning was expected but with astounding choice and some reasonably priced bottles exactly as SqM states et al. Venue was chosen on the basis of easy walk from hotel and my partner fancying Italian fare that evening – glad he did as we’d return without hesitation.

Excellent!!! Fresh and Fantastic!

In my opinion some of the best Italian food in London – white truffle season at the moment…simple amazing!