Stella's Reviews

A gem in Bermondsey! I've been to Zucca several times over the last few months and have never been disappointed. The food is not fussy at all but fresh, flavourful and altogether delicious with a minimum of starch. Although the menu changes fairly often and is concise, there is always much that tempts the palette with a nice balance between pasta, fish and meat dishes. Certain seem to be kept as (welcome) mainstays, for example the sea bream carpaccio starter is wonderful and delicate with olive oil and flecks of chilli, As a main dish I would recommend the mouthwatering veal chop, a generous portion of incredibly tender, juicy and succulent meat. The atmostphere is minimalist and the rather stark interior means the restaurant tends to become rather noisy when busy (which is almost all the time). However it adds the convivial atmosphere and doesn't detract from the overall experience. A nice wine list and a simple but very tasty selection of desserts. Competent and friendly service. For non-SE1 residents, it's definitely worth the trip to try this restaurant.

I've been going to Del'Aziz regularly for the last several months and have always enjoyed it, even if the Moroccan food was less than authentic. It's good for brunch and the European-style desserts are fantastic. But my experiences there over the last two weeks have been so poor that I am convinced this restaurant is in serious decline.

Two weeks ago I was there for brunch with a friend and before we were even seated we were told the kitchen was overloaded and therefore we would have to wait for 20 minutes before placing our food orders. Certainly not the best welcome. I ordered scrambled eggs which, when they finally arrived, were mealy in texture and were surely made from powdered egg mix. I know real eggs when I taste them.

Then last weekend I took two girlfriends there for brunch on Sunday and left feeling disappointed by the whole experience. The restaurant wasn't even full but it still took over 45 minutes for us to get our starters, a green salad and a single order of hummus, neither of which require any preparation. It was another 20 minutes before we got our main dishes and while mine tasted fine, one of my friends was decidedly unhappy with hers and sent it back to the kitchen. We eventually asked to speak to the manager, who didn't seem to take our complaint seriously and had no explanation for why our meals were taking so long but did offer us complimentary dessert as compensation. Meanwhile a fire alarm went off in the restaurant, followed by the acrid smell of something burnt coming from the kitchen…

At the end of our meals we decided to have our coffee in the lounge area, which I normally really like but we were shocked when we saw the many large, obvious stains on the upholstery and bits of food scattered across the floor.

I was so disgusted with my experience there that I e-mailed the other restaurant manager, who I have dealt with before under more positive circumstances in the past. A week later I still have not received a response, nor has my… More