Rustichino in City of London, Westminster

I had an excellent sandwich for lunch today. The staff were friendly and efficient and I enjoyed my salt beef surprise roll. I’d recommend it for a quick place for lunch to future visitors…

This place was recommended for lunch in the city, howeve it was huge disappointment Theu had no price list available which is an issue See the picture below. Lamb hotpot. Mainly cabbage, 4 slices of potato and 2 pieces of meat. They charged 10 pounds...absolutely ridiculous. My other 2 friends ordered the same thing and one charged £6 and the other £12 for the mushroom tagliatelle. The food was mediocre at best aswell! This is daylight robbery in the City... why are these people allowed to trade ??

Been coming here for 7 years, been introducing customers to the business for as long as I can remember. Came there recently with some colleagues, recommended because historically it has been great food for great value. However, On this occasion I opted for the mushroom tagliatelle, my colleague ordered the same, I got an oasis with mine, he got a Diet Coke. Here’s the problem, my friend payed £6 total for his, drum roll please…. Mine somehow come to £12 Unless an oasis is now £6 I don’t have an explanation Highly disappointed

Went for a lunchtime sandwich to takeaway - large queue, but quick service, and the sandwich was great. Was able to pay by card, which was good.

Mirando el menú en el tablero, ver una chaqueta de patata fue 2. 50, pedí uno con atún. También pedí un rollo de jamón, un paquete de patatas fritas y tres kitkats, ya que la oficina necesitaba un poco para recogerme. Llegué a la caja registradora, saqué una nota de 10, ¡y me dijeron que tenían 17! ! ! Cuestioné el precio ridículo ya que la chaqueta de patata se anunciaba como 2. 50 y el personal murmuraron entre ellos y dijeron que la patata a la chaqueta sola era 2. 50 pero tener un poco de atún y queso aumentó el precio a un enorme 7. 50. ¡Qué chiste, luego quedó totalmente avergonzado luchando por un cambio suelto! Sin empatía ni ningún tipo de emoción por parte del personal, de hecho, fueron bastante groseros.

I ordered a jacket potato with tuna and was charged £6.50. When I asked if it was correct they mumbled something and said YES £6.50. The older woman and man then started to talk to each other in Italian and it was obvious they were moaning to each other that I had asked if the price was correct. Not even a bit of salad to go with it but I did find a bit of leftover broccoli in my tuna?!?!

Being a West Ham supporter I’m used to the familiar feeling of hope being crushed. Of the optimism of a Saturday lunchtime turning into a whole week wrecked with anger and frustration because of something I’ve spent valuable time, money and perhaps most of all, emotion on simply not delivering when I really, really need it to. “Luckily”, the day after I wrote this review, West Ham took their rag-tag bunch of ludicrously assembled misfits and elderly defenders to Anfield where they routinely get their bottoms handed to them by Liverpool. And right then, Liverpool are playing very, very well. So in a sense, there WAS no hope. No optimism to have dashed, no excitement to quell, no cheery mood to make bite the pavement and stamp on its neck. However on this day, I went to Rustichino in Foster Lane EC4 for my breakfast. The little Italian eatery has served my colleague Craig well over the years, hangovers have been miraculously soaken up inside their lasagne and chips, and once he was even “accidentally” given a pork belly and mashed potato which looked divine. It’s been on my hit-list for a medium-sized while now, the chalkboard proclaiming their “breakfast box” stood loud and proud outside, and today, this morning, the stars aligned (out last night, missed dinner, pay day today) I decided I would take the plunge and go for it. Excitement piqued (will I never learn?), I braved the crowds and the weather and made my way to the stadium – sorry - shop. A warm welcome is always nice and I was greeted as I walked in, but not immediately expected to make a decision which is serious points deduction territory. The menu offered little in the way of choice for serious breakfast consideration (after full English it drops off into omelette territory), and some rather characterless sausage and egg muffins sat piled on a plate on the countertop invited the worst of the City’s germ-infested toffs to sneeze right over them. “Full English”, the menu shouted to me, “including tea and toast - £6.50”. “I’ll have a full English please”. “White, brown or granary toast?” (I never really care much about this but always go with white to be safe.) “Tea or coffee?” (I didn’t even consider my option here - never order a drink.) “I’ll have a coffee please.” “Sugar?” “No thanks, just black coffee.” “Sure………………………………it’s 50p extra.” What? WHAT??? Oh, OK. Nothing I like MORE than a price increase AFTER all the terms have been agreed on a deal. So now I’m in a semi-bad mood as that move must get pulled several times daily in this place and I walked right into it. Never. Assume. “Right. Alright.” There is some shouting between the staff now regarding the order which doesn’t seem entirely necessary - one bloke does coffee, one woman does toast, and the price hike girl flips open a kebab box for the main event. Along the counter she goes, where big, well-lit silver bowls of all the necessary are laid out; sausage, bacon, egg, beans, mushrooms, black pudding, hash browns, something covered with foil. Yum. Into the box goes one small bit of bacon. Then another, smaller bit of bacon. One (ONE) medium-sized sausage. Two (TWO) halves of something approaching a small moon (or beef tomato). And a massive scoop of mushrooms. And into the microwave with it all. Presumably the rest gets lumped on after this little lot is warmed up is all I can think, but right then, at that moment, something that I’ve since realised was misdirection of Derren Brown standards occurred. “Seven pounds exactly, please” says a cheery Englishman by the till – and no wonder he’s cheery. Because whilst I move over and attend to payment (cards accepted over a fiver), the microwave is done and the toast is in a bag and the whole thing is brought together exceptionally quickly, but fundamentally….THERE’S NOTHING ELSE GOING IN THAT BOX. You ASSUME your hash brown and black pudding have been applied. You ASSUME bean juice will be dribbling out the sides when you get back. You weren’t watching. You were paying. And your Englishness (or, ok, southern-ness) prevents you from asking or checking. Add the addition of some “popped in the bag” plastic cutlery and a cheery bit of advice to “mind the coffee and you should be ok!” and you leave feeling you’ve had a relatively nice small-shop experience. But then you get back to your desk. The toast is on thin bread. The egg is runny, which is good, but it’s under…so it’s TOO runny. It’s liquid. It’s not a good egg, and it’s done in one dip really. And I don’t WANT two slices of toast, do I? I don’t want the SAME number of slices of toast as I’ve got rashers of bacon. Padding. That’s what it is, padding. The bacon is microwaved bacon. I won’t go any further on that as children might be reading this. Mushrooms haven’t been done in butter, that’s for sure. In fact, I’m not entirely sure they’ve been done in anything. There’s a blandness at work here which makes me pine for the latest news on the Kardashian family. I’ve never eaten a tomato as big as this in one hit. Never. It’s ridiculous. Padding out a box with two of these halves is actually insulting – it takes up over a third of the space occupied by food and for a “full” English that’s really rubbing my nose in the lack of everything else. FWIW it’s the best tasting thing so far, but that says more about the rest of it than this giant comedy tomato. It’s at this point I’m minded to wonder - if the black pudding, hash browns and beans aren’t for this, then what the hell are they actually FOR??? And FINALLY, the sausage…. For the love of Paolo Di Canio….what on EARTH is this unholy creation??? It’s some sort of squelchy, gooey lark, all sticky and tacky and vile in my gob. That is...it's AWFUL. There’s a slightly spicy aftertaste which would suggest someone actually invented this sausage on purpose...but I’m honestly struggling to reconcile this with any food I have ever eaten, ever. An absolute monstrosity. I smothered the entire lot in brown sauce to cover up the utter lack of any sort of flavour anywhere, but it could NOT cover for this appalling sac of sludge, and I genuinely don’t know what would. I’m dreading it coming out the other end. An awful breakfast. Truly awful, and at seven quid a pop I feel like ringing the Police and reporting a crime, I’m just undecided on which one to go for... As the terrace anthem so cruelly reminds us each game, “Then like my dreams, they fade and die”, and if that isn’t true of this painfully bad breakfast then I honestly don’t know what else to say. Upsides: Coffee was nice.

Let me say this, there is nothing like a good hearty breakfast to start the day. This place provides freshly cooked food and also a nice English breakfast with hearty portions that is definitely guaranteed to please. The food is delicious and the sandwiches tasty! Bravo!

Popped in here after a recommendation from a friend. This is a quirky little place with just room for three bar stools if you eat in - so timing is everything! The breakfast was a generous portion and made fresh (despite there being lots of pre-made breakfast items that presumably go into sandwich take always). The staff (owner I think) was in great spirits and made us feel very welcome and checked that we were enjoying our breakfast.

Nicely prepared sandwiches and meals at a very reasonable price. Portions are very generous. Would recommend the Piri piri chicken - probably the best in London!!

Great place to have fresh cooked food. Always great music and friendly staff. The food tastes delicious and always going back for more!

Fresh panini ingredients home made. A big cue but fast service with a smile, and a great coffee....open from six in the morning for breakfast.