Portofino Ristorante Italiano in Wirral

Bizarre customer service... We enjoyed excellent meals at Portofino New Brighton, over several months, but on this occasion we have have been put off from going there again. On the plus side, the food quality is normally excellent , and on most visits staff were attentive and helpful, but one of the young Italian waiters is unfortunately not good at English, and this impacts on service; he often has to refer questions to his manager, because he doesn't understand them. He doesn't even understand some basic restaurant terms, such as 'gluten' On this latest occasion though, it was the manager who took our food orders; his English is good, but the Sea Bass my partner ordered, came with a completely unrecognisable sauce, not one described on the menu. She also suspected that the sea bass was mackerel (or another different fish). When my partner questioned him, he was adamant that it was sea bass, but bizarrely said that "we sometimes change the sauces". Er, no....I thought, restaurants do not "change sauces" without discussion with the customer. The manager also offered to go to the kitchen to discuss the matter with the chef and he would " come back shortly" But he didn't return. At all, ever..... He hadn't left the restaurant because we saw him chatting to other customers at the bar, on our way out. At the same sitting, I was given Ravioli in a rather sickly cream sauce, instead of the Canneloni dish which I had ordered. I didn't complain because we had already questioned my partners dish, so I just eat the meal, which I didn't enjoy. So this restaurant has lost 2 regular customers due to what appeared to be odd, bizarre behaviour by the manager. I notice that Portofino, New Brighton, don't respond to any of these reviews; They obviously don't care, not interested. They should be . If you go there, be careful that the staff have properly understood your order, and reject it if it isn't exactly what you ordered , is my advice.

A wonderful restaurant with fantastic staff. Nothing was too much trouble, the servers were attentive and knowledgeable. Service was quick but when we wanted a few minutes break between courses this was acknowledged and respected. Would highly recommend as an alternative to the chain restaurants that are located in the area.

Food was fantastic along with the service. Very attentive. I would recommend this to friends and family when staying in the Liverpool area.

What a lovely surprise. This was so good. The service was great and the attention to detail. The food was very good except the mash potato which was cold. I told the waiter and he offered me fresh mash after I had finished my meal. Also the plates were cold and the Waiter said that was because the waiters didn't want to burn their fingers. The rest of the meal was very good.

After a fabulous show, Blood Brothers at the Floral Hall with 14 friends we had pre booked are meals here. 13 meals came out and l waited for mine, being told it would be 2 minutes, it arrived 40 minutes later when my friend’s had finished eating. We paid the bill and spoke to the Manager who was very rude making excuses. Only wanting an apology, we were told he didn’t care and to get out of the restaurant. He has certainly lost our customer.

Excellent starters, main courses and deserts. Service was really friendly and efficient. Great value too. Lovely ambience.

We had a nice pasta for dinner with my children and the staff service was very quickly friendly with the exciting experience. We'll be back.

First of all its Turkish not italian. We had pizzas, that wasn't pizza, you get better for 50p in lidl. Whatever it was it was raw, my son got instant tummy ache. Looked like a tortilla wrap with a bit of cheese and tomatoe over it. Staff was rude! My kids wouldn't even eat the ice cream. I left the whole of my 'pizza' and they didn't even take it off the bill. Explains why it was empty. NEVER AGAIN!

Christmas dinner was not up to scratch. Starter and dessert was frozen. It was nice but probably bought in frozen. I would have done that at home but not at such a price.Dinner itself , well I could not smell any cooking! No stuffing, no parsnips and worse still no proper roast potatoes. They were just tiny bits of potatoes as you see in supermarket trays. Turkey was nice but my plate had been in the microwave! Shame on them.

Had a fantastic family Christmas dinner. The staff were extremely helpful and lovely. The food was delicious, especially the pistachio cheese cake! The atmosphere was lovely and relaxing. Such a lovely Christmas. Thankyou so much for making Christmas so special!

As a large family of 14 we went to portafinos for our Christmas Dinner on Christmas day. We were looked after throughout our visit. The staff were incredible and treated us all so well. The food was 5 star and the service was impeccable. Management should be very pleased with their hard working staff, chefs too. Thank you so much for making our Christmas Day extra special 💗

Had an amazing Xmas dinner on Christmas day. There was 14 of us all having different dishes.The staff were incredible, treating us all so well. The service was quick and nothing was a bother. The food was 5 star delicious. Every member of staff were helpful and happy. The management should be proud of the great team that looked after us today. Thank you and merry Christmas 😋

Disappointed with the service. Food was OK but staff couldn't even open the wine properly. They didn't seem like they wanted to be there and couldn't cope with the table. Haven't been here for a few months, used to be our go to place. The guy who used to be there gave excellent service and looked after us always, loboo I think. I suggest giving the new staff some training.

Excellent again. Welcoming helpful staff, delicious food, ample servings sadly didn't leave space for dessert!

Went here for my birthday. Food was delicious, however me and my friends were hoping to be served by Lobo again coz he was so lovely last time and very easy on the eye. greta customer service, we miss him

Went to Portofino restaurant before going to see the Illegal Eagles at the floral pavilion as part of my wifes birthday celebrations, it was either here or Prezzo, boy am I glad I made the right decision, we were greeted and shown to our table...

Great venue for dinner with friends and colleagues lovely food and friendly helpful staff thank you!

Pre-theatre meal. Great food, polite and friendly staff, attractive restaurant. Tips - if you order olives and garlic bread intending to have them as a starter, make this clear to the staff otherwise they will be served with mains. Our party had a mixture of...

Lovely evening at Portofino. The staff are delightful. Check your Italian pronunciation before you get there, you will be challenged 😂😂. The food is wonderful and the service is always with a smile. My go to place if I’m going to The Floral Pavilion. Also...

We used to go here quite a lot, but not for years, for no particular reason. So we decided to give it another go, The food was well priced and very good quality. The service was excellent. It’s a very comfortable restaurant with the background...

After going past it for years my partner and I decided to try it for our tea tonight. We were welcomed and seated quickly. And our order was taken promptly. Our starters were fresh and hot and tasted delicious. The mains were a generous portion...

Really disappointing meal, poor service, toilet s grubby and unkept absolutely would not return bill practically through at us

I think portofino has been taken over, had been here on previous occasions and could not fault it , however our recent visit was appalling , service was poor ,waiting almost an hour for our food , when it arrived all but the pizza was...

Under new management, the waiter was pleasant the food was nicely presented however the quality of the meal itself was disappointing, the chicken tasted like it was precooked and the meatballs had no “homemade flavour” like they usually would. We would usually order have a...

Second time visit but this time for a special wedding anniversary meal. Definately a good choice. We expected expensive but on thiis occasion just ordered regardless of cost. It was worth it. The whole 3 course meal and wine was out of this world delicious....

We did a last minute booking for 5 on a Saturday evening and we really enjoyed our meal. The sharing platters (one seafood and one antipasto) were generous and delicious. All 5 of us loved our main courses which were clearly cooked fresh on the...

We have been going to Portofino for many years now, and the food has always been excellent, even through various changes of management. This weekend however, the experience wasn't so great. The food was still good, but the staff management seemed very chaotic - drinks...

It used to be a really nice, Italian restaurant with Italian waiting staff and very nice food. Now? Staff unable to take simple drink order- we have ordered 4 beers with lime, waited for about 20 mins to receive only 2 plain. It took additional...

We were 14 family members celebrating an 80th birthday. Table all set up and quite a quiet evening in the restaurant (until we got there). The food was fresh and tasty , we all had different things from a good menu with lots of choice....

Great atmosphere, we had lovely evening , friendly staff. Food was testy, Lovely decorations ,definitely recommend

Went here as a large group. Food was good, not perfect but edible. Large portions. Would go again, give it a try.

The whole experience was an average from me but my wife ended up with a particularly upset stomach which could only be attributed to the food of the evening.The service and the menu was okay if you're into Italian food of a plebeian resort. Saying that though we enjoyed the food at the time, which is why I'm giving it two stars.There is quite a choice of places to eat in new Brighton so I must insist next time shop around as I know that I will.

Food homemade tasty and well cooked. Staff were understanding and attentive to a noisy works night out party.Couldn't fault the dining experience at all. I would recommend this independent Italian over normal food chains

I was looking forward to visiting this restaurant .. By far the most priciest in this area... I did not find anything on the menu to tempt me not even a Salad on the Main course.. So I had two starters as a main course the Pate was delicious .. Small portion but it did appear to be home made..the Caesar salad... Just that..a few leaves, dressing and a small amount of cheese ... Quite expensive for what was served up... The rest of my party had fillet steaks ( extremely small.. The waitress explained it was because the meat was of exceptional quality.. !?)Served with a small portion of fries... That was it.. The main concern was a rattling air conditioning unit in the background and the smell of what I can only describe as .. Hamsters cage.. I may add I am not the only person to say there is a background smell of sawdust in this building.. One saving grace the wine was very good authentic Italian wine.. So perhaps we just needed to stay in the bar area n have a bottle of wine.. Such a shame.. There are plenty of other restaurants to choose from now in New Brighton.. I thought this establishment would have offered more.. No atmosphere.. Over priced menu.. Needs considerably more attention to detail !