The best restaurants serving Italian food in East of England

We visited the restaurant last night and have to say it was one of the best restaurants we have been to for some time. The service was excellent and the food was absolutely beautiful. Well presented, hot and very tasty. The chef even came out to check we were happy. Haven’t experienced that for a long time. We would certainly recommend the Old Paparazzi. We will definitely be back. Oh, and I have to say, they had the cleanest toilets I have ever seen! Absolutely immaculate.

Don’t want to do a self absorbed w@nky look at me I’m a food critic cos I’ve seen master chef review , so here goes . All the food we had was very good with amazing flavours and textures , as was the wine. The staff were friendly , knowledgeable and professional without being intrusive . The restaurant itself is comfortable and a nice place to be . Overall very impressed and have wanted to try it for some time. Ok it’s a bit pricey but it’s the kind of place you visit for a special occasion . Will visit again .

This is not called il Caprese anymore - Michael’s Bistro as it is now called, was lovely for starters but the main courses were disappointing - it’s a shame’s especially the ramen which was without chili

Llevó a mi familia a conocer amigos aquí todos tuvimos diferentes entrantes y principales puedo decir que nadie estaba decepcionado mi hamburguesa era malvada y mi pareja dijo que la suya era encantadora y el personal era muy amable. Volveremos pronto gracias chicos

Not enough staff and food appalling. My sister and I ordered Tuscan soup to start (which I had ordered before and liked) but it was totally inedible as it tasted sour as if it was off and we had to send it back, so just had bread that came with it. My main was spaghetti bolognaise which has very little sauce and had to ask for more. The dessert I had was chocolate cake with mascapone cream. The cake itself was heavy and there was only a teaspoon of mascapone cream served with it so again had to ask for more. So the starter, main and dessert were all disappointing. They also didn't have any mash which was meant to come with my sister's main.

I used to visit this restaurant frequently prior to Covid lockdown. I’ve finally managed to come back again as I always enjoyed the food and the service. I’ve realised this was a big mistake! Poor slow service with only 3 tables that had clients. I was finally the only client but that didn’t make the service faster. I believe it’s under new management? The pizza has been watered down. No glimpse of tomato sauce on magherita pizza. I am really disappointed and I’ll be not coming back here again.

I had pasta with braised beef & tomatoes. Very tasty & well presented. Sue had a chicken breast dinner. Very nice & served with a warm smile & friendly conversation. Very clean throughout. Parked outside the door! Can highly recommend. Thank you to all staff. Special thanks to the waitress who brought me bread to mop up the sauce. It was delicious & could not be left for the washing up.

Booked a table for a meeting with colleagues to turn up and find out that it was closed. Embarrassing but thankfully remedied by a neighbour restaurant.

I recently visited Rustico’s with my fiancé for what was meant to be a lovely final meal before heading home, but unfortunately, it was far from that. The customer service was virtually non-existent. We felt like we were an inconvenience rather than valued guests. The food was equally disappointing. We was told that there was no pizza available so I ordered pasta, and it was overly cheesy to the point of being inedible. Beyond that, the flavor was bland and uninspired—definitely not what you’d expect from an Italian restaurant. It was a frustrating way to end our trip, but at least one silver lining is that we won’t be returning to Rustico’s. I cannot recommend this place to anyone looking for quality food or service.

We came very late on Wednesday and the host was able to fit us in. What an amazing place been before had a great meal then. This time it was the food was amazing we could both not finish as the portion was so large but really tasty. The host and chef make this a must go to place. Great food lovely people. We visit from Edinburgh so can’t go regularly but would if we lived in the area.

Lovely gelato and great flavours between both shops (Letchworth and Hitchin)

Fabulous food, freshly cooked. If you want proper Italian food, I recommend it. I had seafood spaghetti and the shellfish were all cooked perfectly. It’s obvious that quality ingredients are a priority. The wine was excellent too. A bit on the quiet side so no need to book.

Very expensive for very average food. Over £80 a couple for 2 courses with no alcoholic drink for Sunday lunch, left us feeling very upset. My chiefs special of Beef Stroganoff was tough and uninspiring, not as good as Sainsbury's ready meal. My friends Lobster ravioli meagre and filled with muscles. We will not return.

Very cold in restaurant asked for poached eggs but would not be changed also said no mushrooms but was very recultant to take them off the order got no replacement instead very recultant to go back