Pizzeria Rustica

Not such a good place to end the evening. Our gripe was with the staff rather than the food. We arrived at our given time of 8.30pm and our waitress looked a little surprised:

“Oh, you came back!”

“Erm, yes” we replied, rather confused, and she rushed off into the back without another word.

She reappeared and we were seated at a table which was rather in the way of people walking past, so we asked if we could move to another empty table by the kitchen. Our waitress told us that we couldn’t, as it was waiting to be joined together with some other tables for a party of six. Fine. A second waitress offered us a different table that had just been vacated, so we moved over to it and sat down – only to be told abruptly, by our first waitress, that we would have to get up again and stand in the walkway whilst she wiped it clean. Why she couldn’t wipe it with us seated I have no idea, and we were beginning to feel very in the way and unwelcome! Then, to top it all, shortly afterwards, two people came in and were seated at the table near the kitchen which we had been told was waiting for a group of six! I don’t like being lied to, I wasn’t happy at that!

The staff as a whole gave an impression of rushing around (they were actually running at some points) which was very unsettling and not at all conducive to a relaxing meal when you have waitresses whistling past your ear every few seconds. I understand that it was a busy Saturday night, however we have been in many other, busier, places (the nearby Don Fernandos, for one) where the staff appear at all times to be calmly efficient and welcoming, no matter how rushed off their feet they actually are. Our waitress in particular just wasn’t in the right vocation – she seemed to have few people skills and no realisation that people who eat in restaurants are actually paying for the atmosphere and for being looked after, and not just for the actual food they shove into their mouths! Oh, and on top of that, when I asked her for black pepper she totally ignored my salad and tried to twist it over my garlic bread instead! Simply noooo idea!

In terms of the food, Charles had a very nice Florentine pizza, and my little mozzarella salad was tasty too. The garlic bread had barely any garlic on it, so I didn’t eat it all – I like my garlic strong not invisible! The desserts were rather disappointing. We often find this wherever we eat – however nice the starters and main courses are, the desserts are often a bit of a let down. I had what were described as ‘white chocolate profiteroles’, however I couldn’t honestly see a trace of white chocolate on them! They were instead encased in a rather watery-tasting white ice cream. Not the yummy, chocolately dessert I was expecting and I left it!

In all, the best part of the evening was definitely Paul.

Pizzeria Rustica, 32 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1DN