Sardo

I like Sardo and have had many great meals there, but readers should be aware that prices have just been jacked up again. Expect to pay £120 for 2 people dining including wine. It's a shame as I used to think of Sardo as reasonable value. Now it's getting into a price range where I would expect it to be more special than it is.

A very poor experience here. Mediocre food was extremely overpriced and accompanied by indifferent (if not rude) staff. There are much better value establishments in this area – Sardo is clearly aimed at businessmen charging to the company card and Fitzrovia locals with more money than sense.

I thoroughly regret visiting this restaurant. It got off to a bad start when we arrived and the three waitresses stood behind the counter, stared blankly at us, and then went back to their conversation. We had no idea whether we were supposed to seat ourselves, or whether they were just rude / incompetent (it turned out to be the latter). When we were seated no one offered to take our coats, which would have been fine, except that when other diners were seated next to us, their coats were taken (clearly this civility is at the discretion of the staff on a case by case basis…)

We were given food menus, but no wine menu. After 15 minutes of being ignored by the staff we finally managed to get one of them to grace us with a wine menu. (A £25 bottle of Sardinian wine was the highlight of the whole experience).

Food was very overpriced including an extremely disappointing crab linguine at £15 which we had to comb through to identify the few tiny pieces of crab that were deemed sufficient enough to give the dish it’s name. The other orders were more acceptable, but everyone was in agreement that all dishes were poor for the money.

Usually we would order another bottle of wine over dessert and coffee, but the experience was so disappointing that we just wanted to leave. When we were given the bill (the fastest service of the whole night) we asked for the 12.5% service charge to be taken off because it was completely undeserved.

Frankly, I was so embarrassed that I had picked such a poor restaurant for the evening. I chose it on the basis of favourable reviews online including 5 stars in Time Out – I have to wonder if these critics visited the restaurant anonymously. If you want delicious Italian food with lovely staff, then I would highly recommend Da Mario’s in Covent Garden and, in particular in South London, the branch of Numero Uno at Tooting Bec.

Stumbled upon at lunchtime while visiting UCL. Service good, surroundings average but food exceptional. By a long shot the best Sardinian tasted in UK. Stuffed squid, roast veg and crab linguine particularly memorable. Wine also excellent at reasonable price.

Was a nice and good place for dinner about five years ago. Now it is mediocre and at obscene prices.
If you want to have a nice Italian dinner, go to the spaghetti house around the corner, in Goodge St. There, you will find better food, service and environment!
G

This review is completely overrated. The restaurant does not deserve 5 stars - or to be called a gem! The atmosphere at Sardo is non-existent. The only people stupid enough to pay £12 for a bowl of pasta or £9 for a tiny starter of tomato and aubergine (which must have cost a fraction of that to make) were exclusively tourists and American businessmen (apart from us), which never bodes well.
The decor is a mix of bland, and completely tasteless. The music was so awful it put me off my food. I could not relax the whole time I was there. They even tried to charge us £3 for bread and olives which we didn't even order - in most London restaurants this is usually complimentary (although we were in a tourist trap).

The only saving grace was excellent service - which did deserve 5 stars.