Qype: Zonzo in London

London - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Italian & Pizza - Eating & Drinking - Fastfood & Takeaway - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Delivery


The restaurant has lovely decor that's both warming and charming. The toilets are some of the best I've ever seen in London.

The waiters and owner were a little wooden and there was a feeling of being processed through a factory, even though the place was rather empty.
We had booked with a taste London card which said '50% off the food bill' and, after double-checking the small print, booked our table stating we were card barers. As we walked in and said we had a reservation he said 'taste london yes?' and motioned to our reserved table.

We placed our order of a few starters and mains and were surprised when he shook his head and said sternly 'everyone must order a starter and a main course to get the discount' - clearly nothing about this on the taste london website, I was a bit annoyed but we ordered up and off he went. They do have their own offer of 50% off food during the week and state the main/starters thing there, but he clearly knew we were from taste london.

The starters had mixed comments - the mussels in white wine sauce weren't bad (£7.45), but the grilled calamari was tasteless and pretty disappointing (£7.45). For mains two of us went for the Saltimbocca which is a favourite of mine and again it wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing. Also only came with a few dry roast potatoes and what looked like the end of a raw leek (?!) I sort of expected some greens and these were missed (I would have happily added some spinach or vegetables of the day to it to keep the scurvy at bay). The calzone my friend ordered looked pretty good and the pasta of our fourth companion was cooked well, if a little on the bland side.

When we got our bill I was rather shocked to see that, unlike the customary 'optional 12.5%' I'd come to know and dislike immensley, they had chucked on 18%! 18%! This was just ridiculous, but we worked it out to most likely be worked out before the discount on the food. Unfortunately this left a pretty sour taste in my mouth.

All in all the setting was lovely, the waiting staff a bit off, the food alright. Doubt I'd pop back - only maybe to use the toilet.

Check out my review of Zonzo - I am Urbanite - on Qype