Piccolino - Chester

I’ve been to a few Piccolino restaurants before and really like the chain - has the feel of an independent rather than a small chain, despite being a small chain. This one in Chester is bright and welcoming, situated underneath The Leonardo hotel, opposite a big car park and near to the city walls. A decent location and only a few minutes’ walk into the City Centre - very convenient for the Roman Amphitheatre if you wanted to walk over after dinner and see the tethering stone. Booked online, but my booking was lost. No woe though, for they were still able to seat us straight away despite being busy. The table selection is a bit odd - some oversized benches for five dominate, with other tables feeling a little squished and overlooked in between. Got a nice big table on a side bench though, so that was good. Big open kitchen to the side, with more seating arrayed for singletons. A general air of bustle about the place. Wild. Invigorating. Service was very good - drinks on arrival. The beer was Sardinia’s own Ichnusa - you like to see it. The beer. Disappointed to see they only have Moretti glasses - I like beers served in their own branded glass or in something plain. Not the end of the world, but still. Food was excellent - giant arancini to start was gorgeous and then the Spagna pizza with hot honey and blue cheese. I like that pizza - plenty of honey on this one. Yum. Tiramisu for dessert, a nice square slab. No complaints at all about the food, all good and hearty. The people next to us had some sort of sharing steak platter which was huge. It scared me slightly to watch. Such a big piece of meat 😆 Overall an excellent experience and I would definitely return here in future.

We had a birthday lunch yesterday, which was made extra special by the staff. The food was lovely and the surprise mini birthday cake at the end of the meal, jyst made our experience so special, thank you, you are an was amazing team.

Slow and Horrible Food!" We arrived at the restaurant at 7:40, placed our order for starters and main courses within ten minutes, yet we didn’t receive our starters until 8:30. When they finally arrived, we asked if our main courses could come out quickly, but it still took an additional hour. When we arrived, there were a few tables seated before us, but by the time our mains arrived, we were among the last few customers there. Can you imagine how long it took for us to get our disappointing main courses? When the mains finally arrived, they didn’t mention which dish was extra spicy, so the dishes were mixed up. We requested a replacement dish, and it came out in five minutes. WHY did it take over an hour the first time? The chicken I ordered was burnt and tasted bitter. Every dish we had was either horrible or tasteless. The worst experience ever.