Valentina

Some of the best pasta we have ever tasted (and that’s a lot!)

We live right down the street and we were so excited to finally try Valentina. We buy some things in the shop downstairs and have always been happy. The olives are amazing and the panettone for Christmas was delicious.
To begin with, the service was very slow. From the beginning, even just getting wine and water seemed to take too long. Then we had to wait 30 minutes to order food and then another 30 minutes to receive our appetizers. By this time we had been at the restaurant for over an hour. The main course took about 30 minutes to arrive, as well, which would have been okay if we weren’t already a bit annoyed with the slow service. I’m not sure if they were understaffed (it was fairly busy, especially for a Wednesday night) but the staff just seemed to disappear sometimes.
The food itself was also subpar and a disappointment. Italian food is wonderful and full of great flavors — all the food we had was bland. We had fried calamari that was chewy and, although the calamari seemed fresh, the batter didn’t taste of anything. It seemed like neither the calamari nor the batter had been seasoned. My partner’s fish was okay but again, seemed under-​seasoned, and my pasta was also just bland. Everything lacked any sort of distinction and, considering how good the items in the store are, this was a real disappointment. I think if we hadn’t been there with a 50% promotion we would have been really upset.
We were hoping to find a new neighborhood spot but this, sadly, won’t be it.

Just re-​opened after refurbishment it’s now bigger and better, with a coffee bar at the back.
They are genuinely passionate about food and stock a good range of high quality meats, cheeses, olive oils etc. Homemade pastas and sauces are fantastic.
They cater for private parties too.