Sotto Cucina & Bar

Not Sicilian. This is not focaccia. This is not busiate pasta. This is not broccoli almond Sicilian busiate. This is mediocre “Italian-ish” at best. 2 stars because it was just barely edible. Benefit of the doubt: Line cooks are just doing what they’re told but the leadership of this restaurant needs to take a long hard look at themselves. Plenty of competition nearby.

5 months ago · via Google

On first arriving we were given a private dining area for our party, which was lovely. However, it went rapidly downhill from there. The food was exceedingly slow to be served - when it came (depsite the waiter having reconfirmed the order with us) items were wrong (both with the starters and main courses i.e. wrong starters and serving a vegan with the meat burger). Two of the party were unable to eat the main course (arribiata) as it was far too spicy - whole chillies, including the seeds, were contained so lips were burning and tongues had no taste buds remaining. On raising this with the waiter, we were told that this is a typical spicy Italian dish (both parties in question have eaten this dish on many occasions, including in Italy, and never had to send the meal back uneaten). To try to recify the problem the waiter offered us cream, then sent out a plain sauce for us to add into the existing dish - (a) it was too spicy so the sauce would not have reduced the spice levels (b) the main dish was already cold by this point. To be fair, these main courses were deducted from the final bill. The waiter was argumentative - he argued about spice levels with both parties; taste is personal, plus two people both had the same complaint. He also disputed when we said the wrong starters were sent out, and the when the vegan main course was wrong. It took 2 hours 15 minutes to serve two courses. If we had wanted to opt for a dessert it would have been too late, as we had a pre-booked event to attend. When we went to pay the bill, there were more probelms as they said we could only split the bill evenly and not have a breakdown per person, so someone footed the entire bill which we had to repay after the event. All in all, would avoid and spend your money in a more welcoming venue where the food can actually be enjoyed.

2 months ago · via Google

We had the aubergine parmigiana, vegan arancini, calamari and polenta chips. Everything stunning except polenta chips really lacking in flavour.

2 months ago · via Google

We had our friend's baby shower for 20 here, and it was a lovely experience. The private room space was nice with very cute 'green' wall, decor was tasteful and space did not feel cramped. Staff were nice and friendly. Food was tasteful and good portions. Came out warm and decorated nicely. The service for dessert was a bit slow, and the menu did not include all options (juice and coffee not on main menu) but staff were accommodating. This place is part of Hyatt hotel but we did not stay to have lunch here. Note there is a separate venue hire of £200.

a year ago · via Google