written by tom c on 28/08/2010
Friday night and my wife and I fancied an Italian meal so we picked Italia Nostra at random from a list of possible venues. We noticed on passing in the car that it was almost empty, however, we thought we would give Nostra the benefit of the doubt and soak up the traditional family atmosphere that their publicity boasts of. The staff were friendly and polite on arrival and cold drinks (italian beer and tonic water) were served promptly. It was all downhill from here. For my starter, I chose the Antipasti Della Casa which promised to offer a selection of mouth watering Italian cured meats etc. It consisted of some chopped celery, a supermarket tomato, some tinned butterbeans, a bedraggled slice of proscuittio (the high point), 4 slices of cheap, fetid salami and two slices of spam. All liberally doused in oil. My wife selected calamari from the special board with homemade tartar sauce and was treated to some deep fried frozen squid rings with tartar a la jar on a bed of brown, mushy lettuce. We had ordered main courses - but didn't stick around to see how bad they were. We raised our concerns with the maitre d' and on checking with the chef she assured us that although the lettuce was indeed old, the salami was definitely not off. I beg to differ.
We promptly paid the bill for our drinks and starters and headed off to 103 on Unthank Rd for some proper food. Avoid this restaurant at all costs. It is, in my opinion, horrific.
written by Andrew002 on 23/09/2004
My girlfriend and I arrived at Italia Nostra on a quite weekday evening to an empty restaurant. They didn't have the lights on in half the restaurant, and promptly sat us down right next to the 'pitch black' area. I ordered a bottle of white wine which arrived immediately, but when we drank it we found that it was unfortunately at room temperature. When I asked for a cold one they said they didn't have one. I then asked if they had an ice bucket - but they didn't have any ice. Warm white wine with a bottle of warm water - not the best start in the world. The young waitress didn't think that any of this was a problem, but hey, so long as she was happy!!
We ordered our food. After about 20 minutes we heard an almighty crash from the kitchen. We guessed that was our starters on the floor. After another 20 minutes the starters arrived. Both dishes were bland to say the least, but we ate what we could and looked on the bright side - surely things could only get better.
The main courses arrived but were awful. Mine was actually cold, not even lukewarm. My partner's tasted of nothing. I had to try it a couple more times just to reassure myself that food can actually taste of nothing.
We asked for the bill straight away - making an excuse that we needed to rush off to the theatre as we were running late.
We certainly won't be rushing back.
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