Restaurant Review - Martone, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh

My cousin and I had a day trip to Edinburgh last month, we were dropped off at lunchtime in Waterloo Place, we were hungry and immediately looked for somewhere to eat. We didn't have to look far, nearby we saw an Italian restaurant called Martone and as we both love Italian food we decided to give it a try.

From the Martone Website

There was a downstairs floor and an upstairs gallery level at the back. The place was not fancy, but clean and had a relaxed atmosphere, and it had the most amazing red glass lampshades, impossible to describe but you can see them on the photo to the left. On entering I noticed some delectable looking ice cream on the counter. It was obviously a real Italian restaurant so we were expecting great food!

We ordered a glass of prosecco each and I ordered a Margherita Pizza with Ham and Mushrooms and Janet ordered Pappadelle Nonna (which was a flat pasta with beef, shallots, roast peppers in a tomato and wine sauce). My pizza was huge and gorgeous, as well as the obvious ingredients, there was also a lovely herbal taste to it. Janet loved her dish and I tried a little of it and it was very good indeed.

My Pizza

After a bit of a break we just had to try that delicious looking ice cream. Apparently Martone's ice cream is home made at Ciao Roma, which I think is a sister restaurant. I'm a bit boring when it comes to ice cream, I don't like the fancy ones, my favourites are good old plain vanilla and chocolate, and that's what I chose. It was creamy and tasty, and the chocolate was one of nicest I've ever had.

The price was the meal was very reasonable, especially considering how central it was (just off Princes Street) and the service friendly and efficient. It's open from 8am to 11pm and has an extensive menu. Martone's is a great place for a real Italian meal and I'll certainly be back next time I'm in Edinburgh.

Address:  1 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3BG
Website:  Martone

Restaurant Review - Italia Restaurant, Reykjavik

Italia restaurant

Address
Laugavegi 11
Reykjavik

Website
Italia Restaurant

Cuisine
Italian

Ambiance/Service
There was a cosy, homely and rustic feel to the restaurant. Seating is in little booths which give a good level of privacy. The booth are each named after various Italian towns/cities, we were in Sorrento. There is a brick pizza oven which I could see from my seat. Service was attentive and friendly, the staff spoke excellent English and were very helpful.

Garlic Mushroom Starter

Food
We all went for garlic mushrooms to start. the portions were large, accompanied by garlic bread and were absolutely delicious.

I had ham and mushroom pizza for my main and again it was large and came fresh out of the brick oven close to our table. It was delicious, one of the best I've had. Danielle had a seafood pasta and said it was the best she'd ever had, and both Dan and Dianne loved their meals too.

My Yummy Ham and Mushroom Pizza!

We had a lovely Italian Chianti to accompany the meal. we could not manage a dessert as the        portions were so large, but I'm sure they would have been as delicious as the other courses.

Price
The Italia Restaurant is reasonably priced compared to the general expense of eating out in Reykjavik. Strangely, starters are almost the same price as mains, the garlic mushrooms cost 2200IK (£11.63) and my pizza was 2500IK (£13.44). So if you want to keep the meal cheap, it may be best to skip a starter as the main is an good price and portions are generous.

My Overall View
I have been to the Italia Restaurant twice and both times the food was very good, plus the ambiance of the place is cosy and easy going. For a restaurant on the main shopping street of Reykjavik the Italia is excellent value and I would not hesitate to recommend it if you visit that wonderful city.