The best restaurants serving Italian food in Ponteland East Northumberland North East

Great restaurant and always attentive staff. India was very friendly and welcoming to us both yesterday. I had the pancetta starter and my partner had the smoked salmon. Followed by veal and seafood pasta to follow. Always well prepared, good portion sizes and comes in good time. always a good night.

It is fair to say that that we had a mixed experience here. We went as a family group and some members of the group really enjoyed their meals, but others found the food poor. My own meal was a large portion size, but felt like a definite case of quantity over quality. Another member of the group felt the same, and said her pizza was very stodgy. But the person that had the steak really enjoyed that. The staff were friendly but seemed uncertain and lacked confidence. It was very quiet on the evening we went, and there was a very sterile atmosphere. Perhaps some music would help, and some attempt to make it feel more cosy with the decor - it is all quite bland and there are still Covid social distancing stickers on the floor. All in all it felt quite average. Certainly room for improvement. If you find yourself here, maybe have the steak!

Intrigued by Greek/Mediterranean vibe we booked Mambos for an early evening dinner. Reception staff showed us to a table in a largely empty restaurant and we ordered drinks, wine, mains and desserts and coffees afterwards. The waiter / waitress were really friendly and swift. The food was good and served hot, although due to the questionable orange/pink neon lighting, the chicken appeared perfectly no and uncooked. Note: it probably was cooked, only in appearance it was off-putting. Dessert and coffees were also nice. But here is the rub: for the first time in any restaurant on any continent, myself and partner were asked to vacate the table and finish our drinks at the bar while the restaurant remained with many empty seats. Poor management decision! I took back our generous cash tip from the bill wallet before leaving with great disappointment and will never return. Shame on you. You have good efficient people, good food and drink, but poor management decisions do not encourage local return business.