Reviews of Strada York Italian Restaurant
Webmasters review: This is a smallish, reasonably priced, classic Italian restaurant has good, friendly, attentive staff. It is well placed a few minutes walk just down the road from York Minster. You get offered all the usual suspects on the menu like pasta, pizza and risotto. Basically we had a reasonably tasty meal here on a Thursday that was served hot and came at a good price. The Strada chain has over 40 Italian restaurants covering the UK so they do know what they are doing. They have a large presence in London but, the Midlands, the North, Wales and Scotland are also covered with at least 1.
Warm Greeting From Friendly Professional Very Attentive Staff
As we entered the Strada in Low Petergate York, we were cordially greeted by the door. There was a small area right by the front door where we were offered as our seats. As we sat we were offered menus and a drink. We ordered 2 Aperol Spritz as it is one of the Italian before diner drink we enjoy. Our waitress was very busy but, attentive and very friendly as well. She took our order soon after our drinks arrived. She seemed in a slight hurry but, not overly rushed to do so and thus we were left feeling comfortable, as one would expect. She was actually very good with to us all night. As an example I rudely stopped her 1/3 way into the order. She smiled and agreed to take the order the way we wanted the food to be served.
Order Taken and Served Up Just The Way We Like It - Almost
What I mean by "the way we like it" is, when we are hungry we like to order a semi-traditional olives, antipasto, primo and secondo courses. This evening for us that was some nice big juicy green olives, garlic chilli prawns, mixed meat antipasti tray. Then, the reason I call this semi-traditional ordering is because we like a pizza to share and not the more traditional pasta dish as primo. So we got a pizza with artichokes, sausage, capers and onion to share. Then for main (secondo) we ordered lentils and trout (an interesting combination I thought) and some veal. All of the mains we full meals on the menu but, they come with quite a small quantity of veg and potatoes.
I had trout and lentils. This ended up being a nice thick fillet of sea trout which it did not say it was on the menu. It also was a bit overcooked and dry. David my dining partner had veal. This came with minute portions of potato. So much so we order more when it arrived. Having said that we enjoyed what we had.
Menu Was Quite Comprehensive With Many Traditional Italian Dishes
The menu in general had all the usual suspects on it. If you go for an Italian meal many people want traditional dishes and these are available here. From bruschetta and prawns, to pasta, pizza and risotto, they will have something you will know and enjoy. They also have a few house specialities for the more adventurous.
The drinks menu was not overly comprehensive but, had what we wanted on it. Cocktails, prosecco, beer, red, rose and white wines are all here for you. All are reasonably priced for a York restaurant. We tried what was the house Sicilian white wine. It was good and at reasonable price, relative to the others on the menu. They also have a good range on non-alcoholic drinks here.
To Be Improved
- It was a cold night and we had to shut the door behind us as it did not close itself. The breeze went right through us every time someone came in. If they didn't shut the door we had to do it ourselves.
- The lady next to us complained that the amount of dressing on the Caesar salad she was eating was overpowering. Maybe putting dressing on the side would be better.
- Many of the main meat and fish courses come with potatoes and veg on the menu. But, we and another table near us thought the quantity of said was distinctly lacking. Really this a bit of a con in my opinion. Sides should either be on the menu as required extras or a reasonable quantity with your main. Ordering veg and potatoes late means your main is cold or finished by the time they arrive!
- I order what was called "trout" from the menu. What came was "sea trout". This should have been made clear on the menu.
- My fish was overcooked and dry. How on earth does that happen in a restaurant? Cooking a fillet of fish is not rocket science it is?
Please mention Hotels in York website when you call. Thanks.