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Still one of Islington’s more charming cellar-like, stone-floored Italians, Casale Franco is falling behind in its cooking. The kitchen needs to raise its game if it’s to keep up with the other Italian restaurants around town. Down a little side alley, the venue has bags of atmosphere but too many empty seats. Cold marinated sardines with sweet and sour onions, pine nuts and sultanas made an uninspiring start to our meal. Seared scallops swam in a sea of cream and puréed spinach, on which bobbed the odd buoy of pancetta. Pastas are satisfactory, with wild boar spaghetti and an ample seafood risotto providing good solid sustenance. Belly of pork, however, was thick, chewy and dry. Perhaps you’ll fare better if you stick to less ambitious dishes, such as one of the seven standard pizzas. The wine list is lacklustre, but staff are considerate, justifying both cover and service charges. If you want atmosphere and intimacy, this remains a likeable retreat. For serious cooking, try elsewhere.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008
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I am a very young looking 39 with a good sense of homour. I am looking for a decent, honest and reliable man who will put a smile on my face. Would...
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We recently visited Antonio's Ristorante (former) Casale Franco on Upper Street.
The waitress who took care of our table the whole evening was really friendly, smiling and helpful. She actually knew a lot about the wine (which is too often not the case in restaurants around town), and recommended a white wine from New Zealand, which was spot on.
My friend had the Spaghetti Vongole and I had the entrecote. We were both really impressed and I highly recommend it.
The food was great and the service was fantastic, really friendly and warm atmosphere.
We had a fantasic evening in there, andI would highly recommend a visit!
Perhaps their other dishes are better but their pizza is very substandard. Bland taste, halfbaked (no pun intended) ingredients and really below what we had expected. Will not be coming back.
I have seen the occasional bad review for Casale Franco and am writing as I have never had a negative experience there. Sure... i'm no chef nor food critic but I do eat out quite a bit and this is one of my favorites. I think the atmosphere is excellent and the staff always helpful (though of course have a very authenically italian way of dealing with things). I have also (bearing in mind I have very particular tastes) never had a meal I did not enjoy. I will be eating here again in the next week or so and will post again if my view changes... I'm hoping not.
This was one of the most peculiar restaurante experiences of our lives. The staff seemed to think that they were doing us a favour from the moment we sat down in a deserted and souless upper room. We dared mention that our main course was served cold and were told in no uncertain terms that the kitchen was too busy to do anything about it. A ranting chef soon appeared. Quite bizarre as our complaint had been very polite and discreet. He threw us out, saying that the meal was 'complimentary'. We remarked that we had not yet eaten anything. We were only sorry that we hadn't been filming this strange little man as he ranted and raved. The rest of the diners must have wondered what was going on. Avoid, avoid, avoid, unless you want to be entertained .