Giovannelli

We had a 7:30 reservation, but our car broke down and we had to delay it. They were extremely accommodating and had our table ready for us when we got there at 8:15. The food and service were both wonderful. We felt so well looked after and, by the time the dessert arrived, we were completely recovered from our stressful afternoon.
I had clams and mussels over linguini, a lovely glass of wine, and a very decadent tiramisu. Everything was perfect. If we lived near we would frequent this wonderful place. It’s like they remember what going out for a nice meal is supposed to be like. Cheers!

We hadn’t made a booking but we arrived in early enough to get a table, which was lucky because the placed ended up being full. While being Good Friday, the Ras Mumhan was in town so there were plenty of people to fill up the place.
After being seated and given our order, a complimentary bread basket with dipping oil was placed on our table. It was much welcomed and we tucked into the nice chewy crusted bread.
For a starter I went for the Carpaccio and for a main the Tagliatelle with Beef Ragu. The Carpaccio was fine, lots of tasty beef along with plenty of arugula and parmesan. I did need to leave some parmesan for a finish; there was more than enough to go with the beef. The Ragu main was ok, a bit bland truth be told. I may have liked it more if it was served with spaghetti instead of tagliatelle. I had two glasses of house white wine which was just fabulous. It started with distinctive sherry flavour that ran to a subtle smooth finish. Very surprising. Alas I cannot remember its name.
Unfortunately Giovannelli was understaffed on this occasion. There was only one person manning the front of house and while she played a blinder serving everyone, it was slow. Also the main course took a long while to make it to our table. It appears the kitchen might have been understaffed also?
Overall for the price, the food could have been a bit better and the service a lot better. They should not take bookings /​seat people when they are understaffed in my opinion.
FYI they don’t take credit or debit cards, but there is an ATM a few doors down.

I ended up having a meal here with my girlfriend on good friday, it was basically the only place open.
Unfortunately there were a lot of people here due to the Ras Munham bike race and only one waitress so the service wasn’t what I would normally expect in such a pricey place, however the waitress was really good and managed to keep it together!
The food was very nice, I had minestrone soup and Lamb Ribs which were very nicc indeed.
For the price I expected a little bit more I guess, but it’s certainly very good and worth a visit if you are in the area!