Osteria del Posilipo, Broadstairs

After reading the reviews on here I was a little worried. I was VERY pleastenly surprised.

First off the settings are beautiful. We've just come back from Sicila and this has the same rustic, traditional feel. The staff were very attenitve and we were seen to immediately.

I stated with hte antipasto all'italiana, with some fanntastic cured meats, buffalo mozzerella, tomatoe and parmasen. My partner had the mussels, and again, very happy. We also shared a Mozzarella and Garlic foccace, a gorgeous, moist and very cheesy stretched bread.

For mains my partner went for the rissoto al funghi, and being an avid fan, she assures me that this was one of the best she has had, perfectly creamy, a good sized portion and well seasone. I opted for the Vesuvio pizza, with salami and chillies. Well cooked, just the right amount of cheese and oil.

Lastly I had the Tort Ricotta E Pera, a ricotta cheesecake with pear and a pistachio ice cream, absolutley no faults on this at all. My partner had the fondant with a lovely runny middle.

The total bill came to just £54.50 and I can promise I will be returning.

The person who gave a review of the Osteria del Posilipo which said the food was horrible must have been very unlucky, because I have always had absolutely delicious food when I have eaten there. I lived in Italy for five years, and the food in the Posilipo is "real" Italian food, and is as good as anything I ever ate there. I would recommend the restaurant to anyone! The restaurant is famous in the area for serving only the best. I urge you not to be put off by one review.

Returning from a wonderful holiday in Italy in mid July, we chose to eat at Osteria del Posilipo on a day out in Kent, where we live. The food was so awful I had to tell the waiter politely how awful it was - a pizza which was soggy in the middle and destrpyed the pizza base, a calzone pizza which had cream cheese and too hard a base, and my seafood salad which was bland, tasteless parmesan and prawns, truely awful. I have rarely eaten such a poor standard of food. The position of the restaurant and service were good, but the food would have been reviled in Italy. The total bill was around £50 for lunch for three with non alcoholic drinks, and it was rubbish. They refunded me £5 from the bill but were incredulous that I complained.

Osteria del Posilipo Italian Restaurant is a very popular venue. It is in a lovely position in the beautiful coastal town of Broadstaris in East Kent, a jewel of a town nestled between the port of Ramsgate, and the old holiday town of Margate. Take a table towards the back, or on the balcony to avoid the melee around the reception area, unless you want to see and be seen sitting in the reception area. Despite booking, put half an hour aside, maybe more to be seated, as this eaterie really is authentic Italian. You never know, and more to the point, they never know, exactly what is happening. I like that a lot, as it is far from the national chain trained plastic smile squad. The Food makes up for the attitude of some staff. We won't go back there though. Although many others swear by this restaurant, so I guess it is luck of the draw.

It is very popular though, so maybe we were just unlucky!