Stefano'S Italian Restaurant

Excellant food,quick service and nice staff nice relaxing atmosphere will be returning next time we'r up that way.

Very good as usual

Great atmosphere, quality service, but sadly food was average. Meat balls starter was great, Chicken starter was very dry. Tagliatelle salmone a big let down. Majority of mixed grill was tasty.

Food is good but it's the environment and the people there that make it excellent. I have never felt so relaxed going out for a meal.

Delicious food, wonderful staff, great ambiance. Good value and such fun!

I was expecting so much but I am so sorry to say I was disappointed. We ordered through deliveroo and ordered:

Tortiglioni Prosciutto E Funghi
Lasagne Al Forno gluten free
Seasonal Vegetables & Saute Potatoes
Homemade Profiteroles
Homemade Tiramisu
Soft Drink
Sparkling Water (0.5 Litre Bottle)

Total including £5 deliveroo tip: £45.30

Firstly let's start with the positives. The Tortellini was delicious. Creamy and an all around lovely dish. But unfortunately that is where the positives stopped for us.

The seasonal vegetables and saute potatoes arrived minus the vegetables, unless a small amount of onion constitutes seasonal vegetables and was a bit heavy on the herb. The lasagne was swimming in a tomato creamy sauce and lacked that punchy flavour one expects from a traditional Italian lasagne. My daughter enjoyed it but I have to say it was disappointing.

Onto desserts.
We were presented with two small profiteroles and I have to say they were dismally poor and not up to scratch. They were hard and lacked any meaningful amount of filling. My daughter was looking forward to them but refused to attempt a second bite and we unfortunately ended up throwing them away.
The tiramasu was the most disappointing dish of them all. Tiramasu is my favourite dessert in the world. I have been lucky enough to eat some of the best tiramasu's that Cardiff has to offer but this was not one of them. All I received was coffee soaked thick sponge with cocoa on top. I have absolutely no idea where the mascarpone was but I think it had been kidnapped because there was none to speak of. We also didn't receive the soft drink but instead received a bottle of water.

On to delivery.
Delivery was quick and I understand that offering delivery of restaurant food has its limitations as far as packaging but clear plastic containers that you get from a takeaway and are chipped on the corner? I was expecting more.

Onto the service.
We were phoned by, I have to say a really pleasant woman to tell us that the gluten free lasagne we had ordered was not available and as my daughter can eat wheat we did swap for the wheat with no problem. In that respect the service was excellent.

I really really wanted to like this place. For the price I was expecting a gastronomic experience that would leave us feeling just that little bit special for having eaten their food but it was lack luster and left us feeling somewhat cheated. At £40.30 it was overpriced and just did not deliver.

Would I order from here again? The answer would have to be no. If I was passing the restaurant then yes maybe I would pop in for some tortiglioni but in all honesty the experience left me feeling like the missing vegetables, void of any meaningful gastronomic presence. I am secretly hoping that it was just a really rough day for them and they do infact reach the potential i was hoping for. God knows we need more authentic Italian restaurants in Cardiff.

In conclusion definitely try them if you are passing but be prepared. They do charge a little over average than other restaurants that in my opinion are better and I would suggest that you stay away from the desserts.

Good luck to them. I hope they continue improving and I wish them nothing but future success.

Thank you for all your reviews-much appreciated. www.stefanos.co.uk

Very good food definitely a cut above the Italian chains, varied menu, very friendly & efficient service. Nice relaxed atmosphere, tastleful rustic decor. Prices slightly above average but worth it I think.

Excellant service, very reasonably priced, great atmosphere. as the italians say in one word bellissimo

Best resturant this side of the universe and I have been to many.

Please ignore any low star reviews as they seem to me from the competition hence dont want to leave their name. 5 stars is not enough for this Restaurant should be 8 stars

raf

I purchased a £40 for £20 food voucher before Christmas and took my boyfriend. I was embarrased to have taken him there. The second we handed over our voucher we were instantly castigated for this grave mistake of trying to use a voucher. We were quite obviously served after all the people who came in after us, we sat without drinks for an hour, our food took two hours, and the rare steak was well done. We would have sent it back but we were ready to eat the table by this time. When we eventually got the bill, the numbers seemed rather made up and didn't tie into the menu, plus we got charged for service, which we did not get. I have been to many restaurants around the world, and worked in many, and have never felt the need to write a review before, but I was ashamed to have taken my boyfriend there, and when I left I could have cried. I wrote an email to them to voice this. No reply. I then sent the email with an accompanying letter to them, no reply. To so blatantly and rudely be treated as a second class citizen, just for paying £20 less? I will never go there again!