Porcini Restaurant

A lovely little restaurant, fantastic staff and great food. Something different from the chain restaurants.

Having had to endure 12 hours at one of my contracts in South London, I decided to get a bite to eat before the 3 hour drive back home.
I chanced upon this understated but pleasant restaurant while wandering around looking for something I hadn’t had in a while and Pasta was my final choice.
To cut a long story short, my pasta came soggy and cool in some places.It just wasn’t what I was expecting from a dish I had had many times before at various business and social dinners in the UK, Italy, Spain and The Nederlands.It’s even one of my wifes favorite dish’s at home, her recipe is her Italian Grandmothers recipe and (although biased I know) I can confirms that it taste’s fantastic when cooked well.We all know soggy pasta when we see it..It looks bloated and swollen and should really be al’dente, firm.I mentioned this to the waiter and he told me that Al dente actually meant soft and that there was nothing wrong with it.I was too tired to argue and tried a mouthful of it and couldn’t eat anymore.I sat drinking my mineral water (which tasted great!) and 15 mins later my plate was removed and nothing more was said until I raised my finger and asked for a desert menu.I was given the menu a few moments later and decided just to have a strong coffee.I asked for a tall black coffee made from a double espresso if possible.What arrived was bland and weak and so I just asked for the bill and left still hungry and now quite a few quid poorer.This was around the beginning of 2011.
Maybe they had a bad night but it was early and didn’t seem much busy to me.I vote with my feet and won’t be back there again.1 star for location.

Brilliant little restaurant located on Croxted Road. The food is brilliant and different from other restaurants. The staff are also very nice. Happily recommend all to visit Porcini. Customer service as well as the quality of food is key to this well run restaurant. Thank You.

The restaurant here seems to have suffered various incarnations over the last few years and its current phase, as Porcini, is not a bad one. The food is affordable and there is a Sunday lunch menu that is particularly reasonable. Pastas are fresh and not too heavy although my friend ordered mussels which were not particularly appetising. During the day it's child-friendly and in summer the big French windows are open onto the street. In the evenings the atmosphere can be surprisingly romantic -especially given its Croxted Road location. Service was attentive and they were prepared to accommodate a large group.