Paesan Crouch End in Haringey

So disappointing: slow and forgetful service; tiny and undercooked dishes... Ordered two pasta and three "starters" - no pasta/main course for me, so asked for everything to be brought to the table together. Tried to bring us two lots of starters (ie. six dishes) that we had not ordered. Food did not come together; when we reminded the waitress, she said the pasta would be "another ten minutes" (so they had not yet started cooking it, I guess). Waited another 20 minutes, so by then we had finished all the starters and I sat there with nothing while my (adult) kids ate their pasta. Pasta dishes, for a main course, were absolutely tiny! And completely undercooked - and I do not mean al dente (my kid are half Italian). They were almost inedible. After that, we were continually asked about dessert but had to keep requesting a menu. My cappuccino was brought decaf, for no apparent reason. Add to this the teeny tables with slats that cutlery kept falling through; the grubby menus covered in bits of old food; and the service charge of 12.5% that is added automatically (I wouldn't have paid but my kids didn't want to make a fuss) and we will definitely not go back.

A really nice place with superb Italian food and a lovely waitress Martha. A most enjoyable evening. A restaurant we will come back to.

Amazing experience. We had a lovely table on the roof, and our waiter, Kate, was amazing and attentive to every detail. She also suggested a wine for me that was top-notch. The food was great as well. We will definitely come back. Thank you!

The management and staff were lovely and went out of their way to fit me in on the outdoor terrace on a beautiful sunny evening, although I was a last minute walk-in. Everyone was friendly, the service was good and the food was delicious. I look forward to returning and have already ecommended this restaurant to friends.

We had checked the menu of this cute looking Italian restaurant, and it looked encouragingly authentic. Good points: the zucchini fritte is generous and delicious. The pasta carbonara was good. The waitress was friendly and helpful. Not good: the fennel salad was poor. The fennel was too thickly sliced and carelessly assembled with a lot of the inedible ends included. The amount of oranges and walnuts which form part of the dish was meagre. But they did add more when my partner asked for some. The parmigiana melanzane was tiny - one thin slice of aubergine slathered in cheese for £10.00. We were initially the only customers apart from another couple. The music was way too loud, and unnecessarily so. It was turned down at our request, but we got the firm impression the music was for the benefit of the staff downstairs, not the customers. In any event, 80s power ballads are inappropriate in a cosy neighborhood Italian restaurant on an early Monday evening. In summary, the good quality of two dishes didn’t make up for the poor quality of the other two, which is a shame. We left feeling that this restaurant is being run a bit carelessly and complacently. We won’t return, I’m afraid.

Booked for our anniversary. Sitting out on the terrace on a beautiful evening was absolutely wonderful and so relaxing. The girl who served us was absolutely brilliant. Really friendly and very attentive, and very in control of everything going on around her. Food was absolutely delicious; we shared the vegetale antipast, the norcina and risotto. Fennel salad was a little bland. Pricing is a little to the higher end of mid-range, and you should expect to get an anti-pasti to completement your pasta. I think it's designed as you eat in Italy: not so much 'do you want a started with your main'. It all came to £50 a head sharing a bottle of very nice wine.

I know it’s a long message but trust me, it gets interesting at the end. I walked into Paesan on a Friday eve at around 8.45pm on my own with a book and my wallet in hand. I asked for a table for one outside and immediately got sat upstairs. Minutes later I ordered a glass of wine, the courgette fries and the polpo pasta.The restaurant wasn’t busy as it was already late for Crouch End standards but a couple of people were still arriving next to me. However 10, 15, 20 minutes had passed and all I saw was every customer tucking into their food, except me! How long can some courgette fries and a bowl of pasta can take!? I wondered. I asked the waitress about my food to what she replied ‘sorry the other waitress forgot to put your order in’. 'No worries, it’s all good' I said with a big smile as I was happy reading my book and drinking my crisp and fruity glass of wine in peace. 5 minutes passed and my small bowl of fresh pasta arrived ready to be devoured by a now - very hungry lady! I assumed they had forgotten about the courgette fries as I was almost finished with my pasta and there was no sight of the waitress bringing anything else to my table. Once again I called the waitress over and asked ‘excuse me, you know if the fries are coming?’ Her reply ‘let me check.’ Sure enough they forgot about the fries. A few minutes passed and a very pissed off Italian man approached my table with a mountain of courgette fries on a plate. Pointing at my empty bowl I said ‘no thank you, Im finished and what’s the point of those now.’ He shrugged his shoulders like my 5 year old child would, picked up the plate abruptly and with an attitude he said ‘no worries I’ll eat those anyways’ and walked off. My attitude changed… no more smiley, patient diner! I walked downstairs and I asked for the bill to the same rude man. ‘May I have my bill please and I’m only paying for my glass of wine’ which was £11. His reply ‘No, you’re only paying for the pasta.’ ‘Great and please take the service charge off too’ I replied with a straight face. He handed me a machine with £16 for my pasta, I tapped my Amex and the transaction failed. ‘We don’t take Amex’ said the bitter man whose name - by the way - is AMARIO. ‘Im sorry all I have with me is this card and I didn’t bring my phone’ I said politely but serious. 'OK THEN WE ARE CALLING THE POLICE!!’ was Amario’s loud and threatening reaction whilst reaching the phone on the counter. My thought, ’The Police?!? That’s a bit harsh. All I need to do is call my husband (who is a few blocks away at home) to bring me my other card! Which I did a couple of minutes later using the restaurant phone. My husband came, paid my £16 bill and we left. I never got an apology for my missing food, the inconvenience or the bad experience. We did however got a ‘f ** off’ from Amario on the way out. I was treated like a thief when Amario threatened to call the police and this is absolutely unacceptable. Im a reputable member of the community and a mum, and I love to support the local businesses in the neighbourhood. This is something that shouldn’t happen because an unexperienced restaurant manager can’t take up a busy friday night shift and can’t control his anger. Customer service AND respect is everything in this day and age. P.S. Food is not worth the inconvenience

Promising setting (we sat in the outside rooftop area), nice staff, friendly service, but very disappointing food. Rather tasteless and flavourless pasta (pesto didn't taste of pesto), small portions, and the first time we've been to a pasta restaurant and not been offered parmesan - but then we weren't offered salt, pepper, or anything else either. Oh, and my daughter said the toilets are definitely to be avoided.

Having already been to several other restaurants in Crouch End, we decided (on a Monday night when quite a few are closed) to try Paesan. It's a quirky place. The bulk of the seating is upstairs, with the kitchen open-plan and taking up most of the ground floor. When we arrived at 6pm just one other table was being used, but by the time we left most were occupied. The decor is rustic, as you ought to expect given the restaurant's name. The menus are on clipboards and I didn't make myself popular by removing the clip in an unfulfilled expectation of finding some non-pasta main courses. We had the antipasta misto, which was distinctly average. My wife then chose the frutti di mare: it's made with fregola that was too soft to really work. From my perspective though the meal was redeemed by a truly outstanding norcina made with fennel sausage, mushrooms and truffle oil. The two staff serving were pleasant and our food arrived in reasonable time. However with just once person in the kitchen we did wonder how they were going to cope with all the other diners still waiting for food when we left.

We gave this restaurant another go on NYE and this time it was truly appalling. Service was poor - chasing us to order but not informing us of menu items that had run out (at 9pm on nye) even when we asked for specials. No clue at all about wine. The food was average and portions minuscule, and the atmosphere was muted and dull. At 22.15, one and a quarter hours into our nye booking for a party of 4, we were told the kitchen was closing and we had to order dessert immediately. We chose desserts only then to be told the coffee machine was broken and they had run out of tea! Staff were either rude or very young and clueless. It was an almost comically bad dining experience and we would urge Crouch Enders to stay well away. We have heard other bad reports about this place but gave them the benefit of the doubt. Big mistake and there is much better Italian food to be had in Crouch End.

Grimy dilapidated bar downstairs with kitchen area very very grimy looking and unappetising. Upstairs small and basic - pasta revolting . Sauce tasted like it had been sitting around for days. Fried courgette soggy but edible. Only redeeming feature - very sweet charming waitress. Dreadful meal

As someone who grew up in Italy I was looking forward to dining here. The pasta was good, and the fried zucchini starter especially moreish. Waiters seemed a bit incompetent, although very friendly. Took a long time to get the menus, another wait to take the order, a long wait for the food, and at the end the bill was wrong. A bit overpriced considering what it is and portion sizes, but I appreciate that rental in Crouch End isn’t cheap, and the ingredients were of quality. A decent and trendy if somewhat cramped place. Enjoyed it, but slightly underwhelming and so would probably not go again. But worth a try!

Unfortunately while this was a night out to celebrate our retirement; the food let us down terribly. The starters were okay; however the mains where we had pasta with aubergine was tasteless and certainly not seasoned. I had to return my food and while the restaurant kindly provided me with an alternative, it was also quite poor in taste. A huge disappointment.

Following good reviews, and that it has fresh pasta, we wanted to try this for a friends birthday. The dinner has good atmosphere and bright from the roof terrace. We did need another table as found the seating cramped with small tables. The offering on the menu - starters were mostly processed meats and cheese, the crispy shreds of zucchini was ok. However it would be good to have more more choice. So we mostly ordered pasta starters followed by more pasta. The pasta starters were small. We found the best pasta was the meat ragu and parsley sauce which had a good balance. The carbonara tasted like pasta warmed up with egg yolk. All pasta plates were served with the same pasta - large noodle style. Followed by desert - we tried the doughnuts were stiff croquettes with a green slime ouzing out, and tiramisu was cold custard with sponge bits dipped in liqueur. The cocktail was like cough syrup in a long drink. Overpriced and underwhelming.

I loved this restaurant, knowledgeable and really nice staff. I'll come back! Involtini di bresaola e norma di paesan: I'm pretty sure that always remind in my mind

From the reviews of friends it sounds like this place used to be good but is sadly very average now - which you'd put up with if it wasn't horrifically overpriced! £19 for a bowl of lukewarm pasta. Horrible sewagey smell downstairs and cramped upstairs - not a good atmosphere. Disappointing meal out.

Excellent authentic Italian food, celebrating the best of artisan regional cooking in diverse ways. The ingredients are imported from Italy so you can really taste the difference. We started with Espresso Martini as our aperitivo and chose it with a twist; a hint of coconut - it was the best one we've ever had! For small plates we had octopus carpaccio with pepper & celery salad, and red & golden beetroot salad with kohlrabi & goats cheese. Both small plates were gorgeous and the flavours were mindblowing. We continued with bowls of fresh pasta: Norma di paesan (aubergines, stracciatella, pine nuts & basil), Ragu di manzo (mafalde with slow roasted wild beef shin ragu) and Ravioli bicolore (crayfish, prawn & mascarpone with a tomato bisque). These stunning pasta dishes had the real traditional Italian taste, so you felt like being in Italy. Paesan can also make gluten-free pasta or gnocchi on request. We recommend pairing the dishes with one of the fabulous wines from the wine list that represents various regions of Italy. Our side, tenderstem broccoli with garlic & almonds, was very tender and tasty. We ended our dinner with beautiful, irresistible Caprese (almond-flour chocolate cake with mascarpone and strawberry sauce), mouth-watering and warm Frittelle al pistacchio (mini doughnuts with shaved white chocolate), and Limoncello which was like a burst of sunshine in a glass. Paesan Crouch End has a nice atmosphere and the staff is wonderful, welcoming and very friendly. This is a charming restaurant with outstanding service and absolutely delicious five-star food where the flavours sing.

I ordered a gnocchi romana for £19 and waited some 20 minutes for it to arrive, even though the restaurant was virtually empty. The gnocchi was barely more than the size of a starter dish. It was largely cold and had to be sent back to be re-heated. It came back lukewarm but I had to eat it because by then I was running out of time. Totally amateurish. I will say that the flat white coffee was excellent, which prompts me to suggest that this place ought to be run as a cafe, not a restaurant, as the latter function seems beyond the present capability of the staff. I feel distinctly disappointed if not cheated by the experience.

My third time here on the request of friends & really am going to put my foot down & not agree to go again. The waitress had no idea what pasta the mains were served with when asked, we got the wrong main sent to us & then my carbonara had to be sent back as it was seriously undercooked & was inedible on arriving at the table again. I feel like this place is a bit like the Emporer’s new clothes … people rave about it & it has become “trendy” for no reason. The food is not great & hasn’t been for me 3 times now. More fool people who are willing to pay up to £20 a head for a bowl of pasta … try Lina Stores instead!

Paesan dont need this review but i felt i had to write something to compliment the evening we had last week. We were in London for the weekend and decided to head out one night for food. Arrived at Paesan, admittedly done a walk past as it seemed V quiet from the outside. Having not got any validation from that we decided to just go in and were we delighted we did. Although downstairs was quiet upstairs had a lovley, cozy, buzzy feel with full tables of customers. THE FOOD was incredible. We love italian and i went as far to say that it was some of the nicest food i have had in a long time. Drop in a lovely bottle of Malbec, a couple of Lemoncellos and we were VERY happy customers.. Cane to £110 which we were happy to pay as we had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We will return on our next visit to the UK.. Fantastic Service too..

An absolutely delicious dinner and the service was second to none. I recommend that everyone in the world eats the doughnuts!! Will definitely be back.

Lovely atmosphere - superb food, service was tops! We visited for a family birthday and everyone was happy! Highly recommend!

Amazing service and really enjoyed the time taken to advise on the menu. Cheers Nello! We’ll be back!

Everyone was super kind and the food was great, definitely recommend. The Donuts especially were very good

Everything was incredible. Very fast and friendly service and amazing pasta. Would recommend to a friend xx

Everything was incredible !!!!!!! The food, the drinks and the service. Especially the carbonara 😍😍😍 will definitely be back again soon !

I came for lunch with my boyfriend and our dog, for starters I will say that finally we found a great dog friendly place (which it’s so hard ) . The atmosphere it’s lovely, great terrace and the food is just amazing, the products they...

Genuinely lovely food and staff. Not sure why I've not been before. Recommended. Great pastas and liked the salad too.

An absolute amazing service by Nello and the staff they went out of the way to accommodate us. Well done to the chef for cooking such fresh and great tasting food.

Lovely service from Nerea and the team tonight. Great food as always and a lovely experience with family and friends from outside of London.

The food was good enough, but not outstanding. The service was so bad it was funny. Great comedy value though. There is a hospitality crisis in the UK- please can we undo Brexit?

The food is well served and most carefully prepared. No greater praise. The outside terrace was very helpful too

Mamma mìa! The food is incredible. Paesan is amazing. She took grwat care of our table. Five stars..

Wonderful food and really good value. Kids pasta as good as the adults. Service just as good - grazie mille Parmis (and everyone else). A fantastic find - we’ll be back!

We were booked for the first time and decided to book inside but once at the restaurant were offered a terrace table which was perfect. All our starters were great- calamari, arancini and gnocchi followed by mains Mafaalde and carbonara. All dishes were very authentic,...

Restaurant is just off main Crouch End Main Street which means it’s quiet and has a lovely outdoor dining area. Food and drinks were beautiful, service was attentive and friendly. Would absolutely recommend and come back again

My husband found this place just off the cuff and I am so glad he did. It's an understated slice of Italy in the heart of beauty crouch end. The food was basically made to order, the portions perfect. The drinks are varied and tasty....

Great meal out, we tried most of the starters which were delicious (particularly recommend the gnocchi, the focaccia, the arancini and the straciatella tomato salad). The staff are very accommodating and there is a lovely atmosphere. Recommend it for dates, families and friends

Had a lovely time. Inventive, tasty dishes all presented beautifully. Narea was a great waitress, made us feel really looked after. Will definitely be coming back.

good organisation of the dinner and friendly booking, good service at the table, excellent food, very friendly and helpful staff

We really enjoy coming here, the food, wine and service is excellent. The menu is simple but delicious, the food is trad Italian , rustic, country and street food. The pasta is home made and fresh, the small plates are very tasty. Highly recommended!

My oh my! Food is incredible. Everything we ordered was delicious. Extra marks for the risotto and scallops. Excellent service and atmosphere as well. Very reasonably priced.

This place has a really nice ambience, I love the food here and cannot recommend enough. The menu is straightforward and the pastas are delicious, I've tried every single one and would especially recommend the mafalde norcina. They have a very well curated wine list,...

The food was brilliant and the service was superb I really enjoyed my time there and everyone was so friendly

I came with my family and really enjoyed the experience, the staff were very accommodating and friendly, really enjoyed my time here.

Came here tonight with friends and we had Great time! Very busy thursday. As soon as we arrived we were welcome with a smile and we order a Falanghina and some Focaccia to start. Three large pasta (perfect portion and you can tell its fresh)...

I highly recommend the food at Paesan crouch End, the tastes are amazing. I always ask for recommendation and or advice on what to order from the staff, as they are super helpful. Enjoy!

I've been to Paesan many times and it's definitely my favourite in the area if not in all of London! The ambience is lovely, the staff are so welcoming and the food is outstanding. Would recommend the foccacia, wild boar ragu and pistachio doughnuts. I...

Love Paesan. Everyone that works there is super friendly. It has a really relaxed, fun atmosphere, and of course the food and drinks are excellent. It’s very hard to say no to the homemade pastas! The terrace is awesome in the summer for lunch, dinner...

Our 3rd time to Paesan, lovely host gave us a great welcome. The food is the best Italian in the area and the setting can’t be beaten. Will definitely be back.

The pasta is really fresh, you won’t find something like this anywhere else. Customer service is unmatched, and the chefs are amazing. Really a hidden gem in Crouch End. Check it out if you’re about!!

I visited this Italian restaurant with my friend few months ago. Restaurant looks nice from outside (Castle) and inside is nice warming atmosphere with lovely staff and amazing taste of food. We really enjoyed time there.

Great menu with lovely fresh pasta. The place is nice and it was a nice experience. The chefs are working in an open plan kitchen and the pasta Area its amazing. I saw the Chef making it fresh.

The restaurant is a beautiful small pearl in the heart of Crouch end , we had a sit on the terrace . The food is amazing, a real Italian journey and the service is very friendly and very professional. As italian and chef, I have...

I celebrated my Birthday at the Paesan- Crouch End. The staff was amazing, through the whole planing and celebration. They are warmhearted and very professional. Food and Drinks were delicious! I highy recommend this lovely place. The italian food taste so so good! Do not...

We had a family lunch here at the weekend and sat on the cute little terrace. I had crab pasta and the pasta was incredible, really dense and tasty. Everyone loved their food, which was on the pricey side but well worth it. Also very...

I personally don’t really understand some of the past reviews. Had such an amazing time, the food was so great and the pasta is the best I ever had in London! Also the team is so lovely! From the waitresses to the kitchen staff, having...

Pretty little place, was a pleasant surprise to find such an attractive little building and terrace in Crouch End. We went with family who lives locally who was excited to share this with us as they had heard good things. And we all love a...

We had a splendid birthday celebration meal at Paesan, Crouch End on a busy Monday evening at this clearly-popular venue. We shared delicious starter dishes before main course pasta meals with excellent sides. Good puddings too. We had a couple of bottles of an extra...

What else to say… the staff was very friendly and quick and the food was deliciously overpouring. As an italian I was recommended this place by a friend and it is truly a little taste of home. Giulia made us feel like we were back...

Lovely little restaurant but the overall experience wasn't a very good one. We've waited for almost an hour to get the food but at least it tasted pretty decent. The letdown was the staff's general confusion which made me pay for something I haven't ordered...

So disappointed in this place. We’ve been meaning to try it for ages and now we have we wish we didn’t. Felt overlooked, service was terrible. Waited ages just for a drink then they had forgotten what we had ordered to drink so had to...

We arrived at 7:50pm for an 8pm booking for table rather than bar. We were offered a bar seat only despite their system showing they had seated a walk in. We had entered at the downstairs door, bar area where the kitchen was dirty and...

Absolutely amazing! Staff and food are just perfect!! I love this place and definitely go for focaccia and pistachio doughnuts

We found the restaurant online and after reading the reviews we decided to give it a try. Nice atmosphere allover the restaurant. We were on the rooftop terrace and despite the cold weather with the heating on we were absolutely fine. Rustic and simple decor...

We had the best Italian food we’ve had in years here. Highly recommended. Even the cheapest house wine was pretty decent. We will be back.

AWFUL Saturday night, we arrived 8.35pm and had to wait in the bar area for 10 mins before we were taken to our table that was booked for 8.30pm. Taken to our table where the banquette seating is super high and the single chair seats...

Take your custom elsewhere. This is a restaurant that does not understand service or food quality. We arrived, ordered and sat around for an hour waiting for our food to arrive. Someone also needs to educate the chef on seasoning of food. More salt is...

My friend lives just along from this restaurant, so it was the ideal place for pre-dinner drinks. Unfortunately it was raining on this summer afternoon and we couldn't sit on the lovely first floor terrace. The upstairs interior is rather boring, and lacks any ambiance whatsoever. There is a good selection of mostly Italian wines by the glass, and my friend was happy with her house red. I tried a couple of Campari drinks: a Campari spritz and an Americano. Both were good. We only nibbled some nice olives as we were dining elsewhere. Drinks prices are average for the area.I found the service not very pleasant. The young lady looked a bit unhappy as if she didn't seem to like her job very much, and kept querying our drinks orders. When it came to paying, she refused to accept my 'old' GBP20 note, although they are still legal tender until Sep 2022 and are accepted everywhere else. When I then paid by card, she made a fuss about the way my friend and I had split the amounts between cash and card. Maybe she just had a bad day? My friend assured me that the service is normally much better.

We were so looking forward to discovering a lovely local Italian. The roof terrace had very uncomfortable rickety chairs and slatted tables. Old fag butts crammed in concrete crevices. Starter of Anti Pasti Misto. Very ordinary and no taste. Focaccia also no taste. Waited one hour for what I hoped would be a fabulous main course of spaghetti vongole. A small plate with maybe six clams and worst tasting sauce. No taste ! Pasta was nice. My partner had beef shin Ragu which was better but nothing like Trullo in Highbury. Asked for the bill just to get out which took another 20 minutes. Staff were friendly but inexperienced.Oh dear. I can cook better at home.Try Trullo. You won’t be disappointed

This is a gem of a place. The food was excellent (the crispy zucchini chips were amazing, all of the pasta dishes were delicious and the pistachio donuts were just OUT OF THIS WORLD). Atmosphere was lovely - we had a table on the upper terrace - but the single most important factor in making this a truly special and memorable evening was the standard of the staff, and in particular Nerea, who went out of her way to be helpful, friendly and attentive. She is a credit to the restaurant, and a major reason we'll be returning as a family to dine here again soon. Thank you, Nerea! ❤️

A great place to relax with friends. The staff are friendly, the food is amazing and the general ambience is “take your time” cheerful. We stayed on after a late lunch and left when the evening customers started to arrive.

We love this place - it's close to our house and we feel so lucky to have such an amazing Italian on our doorstep. The food is honestly delicious - especially the fresh pasta dishes, and if you go you must order the pistachio doughnuts. They're incredible. The service is really charming. We love it so much we chose the venue as the location for after our wedding ceremony. We had the most fun time and hired the whole restaurant for our family. Everyone commented on how amazing the food was and the staff couldn't have been more attentive. We had welcome bellinis on the terrace to start, a three course meal, and then coffee at the end. It was wonderful and we can't wait to go back!

On what felt like the hottest day of the year, we were shown to a table on the roof terrace. Luckily the sun was going down but otherwise it would have been unbearable up there. We asked for some water and were given a warm carafe of water - no ice. The seats on the roof were really uncomfortable. Flimsy wooden slatted seats and slatted table, which meant that several bits of cutlery fell through. Thank goodness I didn't order the carbonara. Other members of our party did and it was awful - a sticky, gloopy sauce with no flavour at all. The only bit of the meal that was tasty was the gnocci starter. Everything was really overpriced. To be honest it was a relief when the waitress said the next customers were waiting for our table and she gave us the bill. Get me out of there!

Everything was tasty and the service was good. Really enjoyed my seafood black pasta. Was a nice evening meal out, maybe a bit on the pricey side for food that didn’t completely blow me away.

Vergognatevi!!)How these people dare call themselves an Italian Restaurant I have no idea. They should be ashamed of the extremely bad representation of a cuisine which is known world wide for its tasty and usually generously portioned meals.Any Italian eating here would be absolutely appalled by any dish which would put in front of them. Words fail me to describe the absolutely RAW rigatoni which were the base of my husband's carbonara pasta dish. It was sent back immediately and an acceptably cooked dish replaced it. At least the words AL DENTE weren't bandied around which can often be the excuse when pasta is very undercooked! There's a big difference between Al dente and completely RAW. The carbonara sauce itself was unlike any other Carbonara that we have eaten hundreds of times both in Italy and her in GB. It was insipid more like runny scrambled egg with a few bits of pancetta thrown in as an afterthought. No flavour of pecorino (or parmesan) cheese detected. On that note, we were not offered cheese to add to any of our pasta dishes, and in our incredulence on seeing the measly portions, we forgot to ask for any.Antipasto dishes we ordered were also very meagre portions. The vegetarian board consisted of some zucchini, melanzane, a couple of small mushrooms and a couple of small pieces of grilled peppers. This had to be ordered for two people but the serving was about right for one! Likewise the meat based antipasto board.The very amenable waitress did say that "most people order the focaccia to go with these antipasti", we didn't take her "advice" as we were eating pasta dishes afterwards. We now believe that the great chunks of focaccia that we noticed other diners had ordered, would probably be quite filling and therefore maybe the paucity of the pasta dishes with luck may not be noticed, having already lined the stomach with bread!The pasta dishes themselves were available in two "sizes"----you order by "weight"-- very odd! Hard to imagine just how many ravioli would be considered to be acceptable as the larger portion, which my my daughter and son in law ordered, and were rather taken aback when the small portions arrived. My own pasta dish was to include Italian sausage flavoured with fennel, in reality it seemed like an ordinary English pork sausage with what I would guess a few fennel seeds thrown into the creamy asparagus sauce( asparagus mainly disintegrated)Food could only be ordered by using smartphones, no menus available! What would be hard to print off menus on paper? We found it very annoying to all use our phones to see the menu.Wine of course as always, expensive, the tables were stupidly slatted wood with wide gaps through which it is very easy to lose cutlery. If my memory serves me well I do not think salt and pepper were offered.I can only add that in years of eating Italian meals in both humble osterie and trattorie right up to high class restaurants , I can only say ITALIANS AND ITALOPHILES STAY AWAY!PRICEY TOO , WHICH ADDS TO THE FEELING OF BEING TOTALLY RIPPED OFF!!

My wife and I love Italy and Italian food and over the past 20 years have spent several months each year in Italy so know what to expect. The starter Antipasta was a rip off, £13 for a platter for 2 people with barely enough for 1. My favorite pasta is carbonara and I often order it when I visit somewhere new. The one I ordered didnt even look like one and the first one was inedible due to the pasta being barely cooked so I rejected it. The second one had slightly better cooked pasta but I found the texture and flavour unlike any other and un-acceptable so I rejected it and was not charged. All the portions that any of us had were considered to be very small. We did not like the menu being only available on a smart phone, which I do not have, despite covid, others have a written menu.

Went for a special meal here, taking my parents who live half the year in Italy. Was really expecting the food to be better.Antipasto really poor value for money , we were asked if we wanted bread with the anti pasto as people usually do, the waitress told us. The bread however isn’t included in the price so we declined as we knew we were ordering large pasta dishes as our main courses. The past mains were disdain ring. Ravioli was £16 and there were 6 pieces of pasta! The carbonara was unlike any carbonara any of us had ever tasted- really not very nice tasting at all , and had to be sent back as the pasta was undercooked. Not authentically al dente- just undercooked. It was replaced but even with properly cooked pasta did not taste good at all.There was a small piece of tin foil in the ragu pasta. There were no extras, and the experience did not feel like that of an expensive, high quality restaurant- which was what we expected. Oddly the menu had to be looked at from our own phones and despite a couple of our party not having smart phones , we weren’t offered the option of a paper menu. This felt really odd and more like the experience of being at a Wetherspoons or a fast food restaurant. This might have been covid related but paper, disposable menus would have been an option. The waiting staff were friendly and considerate but that was really the only redeeming feature. I noticed the large focaccia breads that lots of our fellow diners had with their anti pastos and I wonder if this is commonly done - meaning people notice less that the main course pastas are tiny. Am really not one for leaving poor reviews but this was a shockingly poor meal.

We had an absolutely delicious meal at Paesan in October 2020, combined with lovely service. The food was simple in concept but executed perfectly. We each had a pasta dish for a main and the portion size was spot on - both of us have had unhappy experiences of too-small pasta dishes, but this was perfect without being too much. We finished with the pistachio doughnuts which were every bit as good as previous reviewers have said - totally delicious. It was one of the best meals we’ve had this year and even better that it was on our doorstep. I much preferred this to the branch in Exmouth Market. It isn’t cheap, but this is London and everything was clearly made on-site, fresh, so we didn’t feel ripped off. A lovely meal.

Well we were served with beers that were probably 6-7 degrees on a very hot day so the meal started inauspiciously. Quite unpleasant in fact. We were given a bottle of warm tap water. We had to request ice. Sliced Lemon wasn’t offered. The qr coded menu is small but looks very good. We ordered 140g main course spaghettis for around @£15. Two puttenesca with added chillis and one di mare. We didn’t t realise these were 140g of fresh pasta. Meaning the servings were TINY! 140g of dried pasta is an ample serving. Fresh pasta obviously being fresh means that 140g would have been barely a starter. The menu also offer 80g starter portions of pasta for around £8. These servings would probably barely fill an egg cup. The chef forgot to include the pecorino in the puttenescas and the request for chilli instead of capers resulted in undetectable chilli heat. The food mind you was delicious. So Paesan - sort out your beer chiller and increase your pasta portion sizes!!! I would suggest 3 degrees for chilled beer and wines and 220-250g fresh pasta portionsThe location and setting is excellent. The cuisine too.

Don’t you think the words Authentic, Finest, Real, Quality, Traditional and Customer Service are often over used in the restaurant industry? If you agree with me I have found a place that will restore your faith in the English Language. Never has and Italian restaurant been more Italian than David in Florence. We walked in to find some adonis making fresh pasta at the front door. Greeted by Simone we were then shown to roof top table and served by Charlie from a menu peppered only with the finest Italian wines.Food = “forget about it” (words cannot describe its greatness)

Paesan is a hidden jewel on a side street in Crouch End. Wonderful food, ambience and service. The terrace is a beautiful place to relax on a sunny day. The Espresso Martini was the perfect end to a delightful Saturday lunch. Thank you so much. Swati

A little underwhelming. Vegetable antipasti dry and a little boring. Beef ragu generously portioned but underseasoned and not a ‘wow’ as I’ve had in places like Trullo. Service indifferent. Ended with a parting shot after (successfully) paying with Contactless of “oh, Amex, we don’t like to take that, it costs us more, just for the future please ask as most places are the same”. Well I’m sorry - sort your card machine out then. It left a sour taste in the mouth and wasn’t professional. Ate here once in 2018 and was really quite wowed, this week was not, and would definitely not return. Reasonable value with EOTHO, otherwise the price point doesn't correlate with what is on offer.

My second visit.Most of the tables are upstairs in a light airy room. There is a small roof terrace.Baked figs with prosciutto were very tasty, but rich so may have benefitted from some rocket or other leaves.The seafood spaghetti was more tomato than fish, but the pasta had a very nice texture and taste.The fennel salad was a bit dull and under seasoned. The dressing was on the watery side.Ricotta and pear tart was more a parfait.Service was friendly even though they were busy.Toilets need some TLC.With such competition in CE, they will need to keep an eye on the detail, especially at this price point.

This place is delicious, fantastic, and friendly. The pasta is excellent and the desserts are incredible. Highly recommend. Obviously look at the price-tag and be sensible. I think a lot of these reviews recently are people expecting Michelin starred food for £10. The portions are perfect size for the average person and we loved it. (also tables are well spaced in accordance with gov. guidelines)

We spotted this lovely little restaurant just down a side street and were drawn to its lovely outdoors terrace up a spiral staircase. Our food was good and tasty and it is great that we could order smaller plates for a lighter lunch. The Vegetale Antipasti, Crostini and Spaghetti Al Pesto were all delicious. Very friendly service and excellent value especially under the Eat Out scheme.

Visited using the #eatouttohelpout scheme as we live around the corner and have wanted to try for a couple of years. Firstly love the roof terrace, it's a great and rare outdoor space to dine in crouch end (make sure you book and request an outdoor seat). Book an early slot to catch the evening sun. The starter was delicious, we had Misto antipasti and beef carpacio. The main I must admit was good, but i was expecting something WOW given that they claim to make homemade pasta. I had seafood spaghetti, my partner had the gnocci. Both not huge portions considering they were large portion sizes. The doughnuts were the star of the show, these were incredible and unique and I have never tasted them before. Overall with the £10 pp eat out to help out discount our bill was £97 for 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 desserts and a bottle of wine plus 2 drinks. I would go back, but for the doughnuts and starters alone not the pasta!

Nice mixed starter but main course pasta was heavy, over-seasoned and very low on the seafood element

The food far surpassed the area it's located in. The slow cooked beef shin pasta and ricotta and pear dessert were real winners. The price was very reasonable and the service friendly. We will definitely be returning soon.

Found this place while walking around Crouch End as we spotted the lovely terrace. Went in to have some drinks and ended up trying the delicious pasta and the antipasti board. Really recommend it!

Yummie Italian food, great pasta. Lovely relaxed atmosphere, great way to spend a Friday night. The desserts were great...try the doughnuts! You will not be disappointed

Went on a Thursday night. Food was absolutely delicious. Italian with some really interesting inventive dishes packed with flavour and 3 courses for £40 a head. Service was friendly too and setting very nice. We will definitely be back.

Our first trip to Paesan. We had the set lunch which was very tasty and good value. The arancini and the polenta with sweet onions and kale were both scrummy as were the main course pasts dishes. Will return.

We ate at Paesan for a family birthday. The menu sounds lovely but several of our dishes unfortunately just didn't taste very nice - calamari was burnt and swimming in balsamic vinegar, very mustardy (vinegary?) casear salad, underwhelming polenta and pumpkin pasta. General theme of things tasting overly salty and a bit burnt. One of our meals didn't turn up with the others as it was burnt (too burnt to be served) but I'm afraid we cut our losses and left rather than wait for the replacement. It just felt like everything was a bit off. Maybe the usual chef was off? Service was sweet and friendly and tolerant of my pre-teens (thank you) but a bit chaotic given the few covers in the restaurant - we got the other table's wine rather than our own. I was disappointed as restaurant looks so sweet and menu sounds promising - but most people's home cooking is better than this. Also there was a terrible smelll of drains in the toilet - really off putting. Awful. I was a bit sad as it was my birthday! I won't be going back - sorry.

Great and unexpected jewel hidden off the main high road in Crouch End. Our food was delicious, service friendly and attentive, and atmosphere buzzy. Small but delicious menu with small plates/antipasti to share, pasta available in 'primi' portions or as mains, and three fish/meat main dishes which change from day to day. We also shared tasty flourless chocolate cake and beautiful cheese board for dessert. We were so pleasantly surprised and will definitely go back.

Short interesting menu mainly pasta. Good wine list. I'll return again to try other dishes.I enjoyed my pasta. The portion size was fine for me. IME Italians don't over stuff themselves on pasta.Music was a bit loud for my personal taste but drowned out the children so fine.Nb the toilets do need some attention.....

This was our first visit to this restaurant. Very friendly and attentive staff and there was a nice buzzy atmosphere. Music not too loud either. The tables are a bit squashed together though so it feels like sitting in a living room as it is a small place. The wash area downstairs is horrible; the lights are ridiculous. You can't even see your face as the lighting is so dark. The smell in the area is also horrible and made me feel sick each time I went in there. There is definitely a drain problem going on. The Pinot Grigio rose wine was delicious so I highly recommend that. The porcini on brushetta was very good and a decent size. The mains however are the smallest portions of pasta/sauce I have ever seen. The small size is for a toddler and the large is for a child. The men on our table finished eating so quickly as it was so small. Shame as it was good beef shin. The prices are quite high so it's very expensive for what you are getting. Desserts were good and overall a nice evening. The bill was really high by the end though. I would return but the toilets have to be addressed and portion sizes need to be adjusted.

I can’t fault this restaurant at all. It ticked all my boxes. Great Restaurant Great Service Great Food Each to their own but I would recommend without hesitation.

I can’t understand why there are so many negative reviews for this place. Our visit with our 2 teenagers was great. It’s not a huge space so tables are small but manageable. Atmosphere was lively and pleasant. Service perfect and food was great. Enjoyed all our starters and mains. Aranciata and squid to start and Ragu main were the favourites. Good idea to have small option for mains too and portions are fine whatever others may say. Nice simple wine list. No complaints whatsoever and we’ll definitely be back.

Visited on Friday night, Didn’t reserve a table but called beforehand and a table was available in 10 minutes. Staff were friendly, recommended the specials and they were just that, SPECIAL. Would definitely recommend and will definitely be back.