Strada, Sun Street, Hitchin

TOTAL TEAM RATING

Harry' review

Well I came to Strada with high expectations. I’d had a quick look at the menu on the web and had a provisional choice for my main meal. We got in the restaurant about 7.30 on a Wednesday night, it was quite busy which is normally a good sign. Initial service was good and the waiters attentive. Choice of beer limited and expensive (a common theme) so we plumped for a Pironi special reserve £4 a bottle for 330 ml. I was really looking forward to the lamb shank, only to be told by the waiter it was off the menu. Second venue, second time my first choice main wasn’t available….Grrr

For starter I went for the Tricolore, a medley of mozzarella, ripe tomatoes and avocado. This was well presented and good quality, though in fairness it would be hard to get this wrong.

 

For the main I went for the Branzino Basilico, pan fried sea bass fillets on a bed of basil mash with fresh tomatoes and olives. The fish was cooked nicely and there was a good portion of mash, but at £14 quite pricey. Also not great on the presentation, almost looked like it had been thrown together.

After the beer we had a bottle of the house white, which I’m sure Maurice will remember the name of, which was very drinkable, but again expensive as was the rest of the wine list.

Strada seem to have gone for the high end of the Italian chain market, but haven’t quite made it in my opinion. The food was quite acceptable but not inspiring and given my expectations and the relatively high price tag I was a bit disappointed, especially with the value for money.

Service and venue: 3/5
Food and drink: 3/5
Value for money: 2/5

Maurice's Review

Venue: The Strada is the “The Strada” being an Italian themed restaurant chain they are all pretty much decorated the same. However it was a light, spacious and fairly modern environment. A good place to go with friends, but not for a romantic meal

With regards to selection of drinks on offer this was very disappointing; there was a choice of 3 lagers, Peroni, Peroni or Peroni. No options for bitter drinkers. Also on this particular evening they had ran out of lemonade, so some mixers were out of the question. (Still trying to understand why nobody popped to the shop a couple of doors up, but hey).

At the same time as being informed about the lemonade, we were told that 2 of the dishes were also off the menu. One of which again was Harry's first choice.

Wine: we had a very nice bottle of wine, the house white at £14 – reasonable.

Starter: Fungi Polenta £5.25

Apparently a traditional Italian dish of seasonal mushrooms sautéed in a garlic cream, porcini and thyme sauce with grilled polenta and Grana Padano cheese.

Realistically I would say it looked like next doors cat had walked in and thrown up on a couple of sponges. Sorry but much more could have been done with the presentation. I would also add that the mushrooms didn’t appear sautéed, and if the polenta was grilled they hadn’t switched it on. 

However it did have one thing going for it which was it was hot. Sorry but this gets a 1/5

Main Course: Orata Al Forno £13.75

Basically a whole sea bream, pan roasted with lemon and thyme, served with a green salad and roasted new potatoes. Well you know what, they fought back with this one, it looked good and the fish was cooked well, lots of flavor and a great texture. The potatoes were nice and soft with a crispy skin (although only 5 of them) and the lemon and thyme added much to the flavor.
 
Service: From the minute we walked in we were greeted with a smile and before we even sat down we had a laugh with the waiter. These guys were good, and also attentive, which was a struggle for them given that there appeared to be only 2 off them working. 

They were literally running around on occasions to keep up, which did cause some issues the table behind requested the bill on at least 3 occasions, plates and condiments were left on chairs and table abandoned mid clean. 

Value: Well for me I agree with Harry, they have aimed a little high, and did not hit the mark. High prices with an average of £30 a head for 2 courses and a glass of wine, considering the overall quality of the food etc. 

Service and venue: 3/5
Food and drink: 2/5
Value for money: 2/5

Mick's Review 

Starter: Fungi Polenta £5.25

Starter was very hot but very bland did state it was grilled didn't seem like it Maurice commented it looked like cat sick - yuk but agree. 

Mail meal was ok did not like the sauce poured over the breaded chicken and was not very warm, heated only by the breaded chicken.

Service was very good, well informed felt sorry for Harry, as once again his choice of main meal was not available (could be something to do with this weeks Grand National!!!)

Not a great choice of beers, when it arrived it was warm. We decided to get a bottle of white wine, which was very good.
Arrived with good expectations as I had eaten there a couple of times before and was looking forward to it as it was my pick, but really really disappointed. 

Service and venue: 3/5 
Food and drink: 3/5 
Value for money: 2/5