Vittoria Restaurant, Edinburgh

...Leith Walk. There are two Vittoria restaurants in Edinburgh, the other being in George Street. The particular one we went to was situated very close to the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Omni centre. If we had left our tea any later, we would have been plagued by the crowds of people coming out from a show at 8pm, and so we were pretty glad we had decided to dine when we had.



THE RESTAURANT
First impressions are ...
...green sign. The sign read Vittoria Restaurant and then stated the telephone number. Outside, as with many restaurants and cafe's in Edinburgh, there were outside tables, however when we arrived it was full and so even if we had wanted to dine outside, it wouldn't have been possible. Outside the restaurant there was also a bored which stated some of the most popular things on the menu. Glancing at this, I knew we were all going to be in for a real ... more

** I WAS CLEVER, AND TOOK NOTES IN THE NOTEPAD ON MY PHONE!!**

I've always loved italian food, ever since I was a little girl. My grandma used to take me out for day trips to Edinburgh, and we always managed to find an italian restaurant for a nice tea. Now Edinburgh is heaving full of different restaurants, chinese, brittish, french, thai and so on, however italian is probably still my number one.
I have tried various italian restaurants in Edinburgh, however the one I visited last was the best i've ever been too, and I couldn't let it go unreviewed.

Three days ago three of my relatives flew in from Canada, ready for a fun filled week with us. They arrived at 3pm in the afternoon, and since they had been travelling during lunch time, they hadn't managed to find something to eat, so when they arrived at our house, they were all starving and desperate for something to eat. After much deliberation we decided to travel through to Edinburgh (fourty five minutes on the train), and find a nice restaurant to dine in.

By the time we arrived in Edinburgh it was around seven o'clock and we were beginning to worry if we'd be able to find somewhere to eat out as it was the peak time. After checking and being sent away from around four restaurants we were beginning to give up, and were seriously considering grabbing a pizza. However, this wasn't neccessary, as at the last minute, we spotted a lovely looking italian restaurant over the road. This particular restaurant was called Vittoria, and was situated on Brunswick street, Leith Walk. There are two Vittoria restaurants in Edinburgh, the other being in George Street. The particular one we went to was situated very close to the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Omni centre. If we had left our tea any later, we would have been plagued by the crowds of people coming out from a show at 8pm, and so we were pretty glad we had decided to dine when we had.

THE RESTAURANT
First impressions are vital to me, when it comes to dining out so luckily I wasn't let down by the outside of this restaurant. Vittoria's was set on the corner of Brunswick Street, taking up two walls on the end of the street. The first thing I noticed was how attractive the outside was; a medium shade of green was the most predominant colour, as the whole of the top of the wall was covered in a large green sign. The sign read Vittoria Restaurant and then stated the telephone number. Outside, as with many restaurants and cafe's in Edinburgh, there were outside tables, however when we arrived it was full and so even if we had wanted to dine outside, it wouldn't have been possible. Outside the restaurant there was also a bored which stated some of the most popular things on the menu. Glancing at this, I knew we were all going to be in for a real treat.
Entering the restaurant we were greeted by an italian man. He was extremely friendly, and made us feel like we were really valued customers. We told him we would like a table for seven and that we hadn't pre booked and we hoped it would be ok. He assured us this was no problem and proceeded to take us through to a table. One thing I did notice was how large the restaurant was. From the outside it looked like it would be a small, and dark inside but I couldn't have been further from the truth. We were taken through a large bar area, where some jolly looking couples sat sipping there wine or downing there pints, and we were directed through to the back of the restaurant.
The exterior of the restaurant was extremely homely and welcoming. If I remember correctly three of the walls were dark wood, and the other wall was a deep red. Although the walls seemed to be extremely dark, the lighting in the restaurant was fantastic and it was in fact very bright inside.
The italian man guided us to a table near the back of the restaurant and offered to take our jackets. We took him up on this offer and he disappeared off with our jackets. Our table was a perfect size, seven people sat around it comfortably and i'm sure eight could have squeezed round too. The table was wooden, matching the walls, and the seats were the same colour too. The seats weren't overly comfy, however they did have a green cushion on so numb-bums were not a problem. The table was very attractive, yet very minimal. Each person was given a fork and knife, a green napkin and a green napkin, matching the cushions. Due to the minimal fuss on the table there was plenty of room and we didn't have to be overly careful when moving around.
In the background of the noise of chatter and laughter, some italian music was playing quietly in the background. The music was the perfect volume, not blaring out, but loud enough to just be heard and add to the italian feel.
Overall I was very impressed with the outside, inside, decor of the restaurant and so far so good.

SERVICE
One thing that annoys me in restaurants or cafe's is when you are served by a teenage girl/boy (no stereotyping here mind, i'm a teenager too!), who couldn't care less about what they're doing, who they're serving, or how annoying they are being. Thankfully this was not a problem. The man who showed us to our table never returned to take our orders nor did we see him again that night, however the man we did recieve was just as friendly and just as happy to help. If I have one complaint about him though, it would be that he did seem quite flirty with the woman at the table, and he even gave my mum a white rose. She was flattered and thanked him, however when he disappeared we did talk about him being quite creepy. None-the-less he was very efficiant and made sure our stay was as pleasent as possible.
After we had been sitting down for about three minutes he appeared for the first time, intruduced himself and asked if we would like any drinks. He disappeared and around two minutes later arrived with the seven drinks. The drinks were presented on a brown tray, big enough for at least ten glasses. After he'd served up our drinks, he passed us some large menu's and waited for us to choose what we'd like. After ordering, it took around ten minutes for our starters to come. We all thought this was fantastic, as after only fifteen minutes of sitting in the restaurant we were already starting our meal. Almost immediatly after we'd finished our starters the same man returned to clear our plates, and after he'd taken them through to the kitchen, he appeared once again with his notepad and pen and was ready to take our main course orders. Thankfully we had chosen what we all wanted already, however if you hadn't chosen already you wouldn't have had much time to do so. After he took our orders it took around fifteen minutes for them to be delivered to us. Again the man was friendly and after serving our main courses he took our order for another round of drinks. Thankfully when he arrived with the drinks, he never reappeared for another thirty minutes or so, giving us all a nice time to finish our meal, and have a little chat too. Around ten minutes after we'd finished our main course, the same man appeared and asked if we had enjoyed our meal, if we'd like the dessert menu and if we'd like more drinks. We passed on the more drinks idea, however the dessert option was taken up. After clearing our plates he returned with a smaller menu reading "Desserts" on the front. He gave us around five minutes to decide, then took our orders. The puddings only took around 10 minutes to come, which again was a perfect amount of time. Once we'd finished our puddings, it was around twenty minutes before he returned again to clear the plates. Once he had cleared the plates he dissappeared again for around ten minutes, before my mum shouted him over to ask for the bill. The bill was presented on a brown wooden plate, along with 8 mints (two brothers fought over the last mint!).
Overall, the service was really good and we were really happy with the amount of attention we weer given, however at some times we did wish he'd just clear off and leave us too it, however as he was so friendly we thought this rude to tell him.
On inspection, most of the waiters and waitresses in the restaurant were italian which added to the feel, and made us feel like we were really appreciated for dining here.

FOOD
The variety of food on offer at the Vittoria is huge, and there is definitly something for everyone. Aswell as the regular italian dishes, there are also some different and more unusal ones too.
The first menu is home to the starters, main courses and drinks.

STARTERS
We all decided to order a starter each. This was not a problem and there was something for everybody. Aswell as the traditional italian dishes, there were also some more unusal ones, which would be quite a risk to sample if your a picky eater or don't like certain things. Starters come in two varieties, hot and cold, and we were lucky enough to sample a mixture of the two.
HOT STARTERS
There was a large choice of hot starters to choose from, and we didn't know where to start. Among the list, there were; soups, small portions of pasta, breaded mushroom, fish dishes such as prawns and many more. As well as the hot starters and cold starters there was also a huge list of breads that could be as your starter or alongside your main dish. The variety of breads was huge, including; regular garlic bread, cheesy garlic bread, italian bread and Bruschetta. We ordered 5 hot starters. I chose the cheesy garlic bread. I was served with three large peices, all golden brown with a yellowish-greenish topping. The garlic taste was very strong, but delicious too, and the cheese on top tasted more like a cheddar than a mozerella. It was delicious, crispy yet chewy at the same time, and not too greasy either. My two brothers both ordered the breaded mushrooms. Each plate came with 3 large lopsided breaded "things". I seriously doubted wheather they'd both be able to finish there starter, and I was right, both of them only managed two. The breadcrumb coating was golden brown and looked very tempting. My auntie ordered the small bowl of penne pasta with a tomato sauce. It came in a small bowl, and contained a reasonable amount of pasta, and a large ratio of sauce. The sauce was very tomatoey and looked really chunky, again this dish looked scrumptious. My cousin, ordered the soup. I'm not too sure what the soup flavours are, but my cousin ordered a vegetable based one. She was asked wheather she'd like a bread roll with her soup or a peice of garlic bread. Overall, we were all really impressed with the hot starters and would definitly recommend them.
COLD STARTERS
As well as the hot starters there is also a huge choice of cold starters. These would be nice on a warm summers day, and would be ideally suited to the outside dining. Among the menu were; prawn cocktail, various salads and bowls filled with olives etc. The cold menu didn't really appeal to me however am I told they were all scrumptious.
My mum ended up deciding on the prawn cocktail. It came served in a large glass, almost like an ice cream-sundae dish. The prawns were large, and came like all prawn cocktails in a pale pink sauce. On the side of her plate, she was also given two thin slices of parma ham and some lettuce. She tells me the prawn cocktail was utterly delicious and she would have happily had another for her starter.
My uncle took an age deciding on what he wanted, but eventually he decided on Pate Della Case (if I remember correctly?). You, like I will probably have no idea what this is so let me explain. The Pate Della Case (?), came on a large plate. There were two pots of pate, one was a deep brown and the other more of a beige colour. Next to the two pots, he was served up with 4 large peices of warm toasted bread. This didn't appeal to me at all as i'm not a huge fan of pate however he assures us all it was delicious and not too filling.
Overall, the cold starters proved really popular, but to me, and my brothers, they didn't appeal in the slightest.

MAIN COURSES
Deciding on our main courses took a while, so thankfully we had decided before the waiter came to take our orders. The menu was huge and we were presented with a wide variety and some fantastic choices.

PASTA- As with all italian restaurants, pasta was a huge option on the menu and there was a wonderful variety we could choose from. The pasta dishes included, penne pasta with a variety of sauces, spaghetti bolognaise, a meat lasagna, a vegetarian lasagna, carbonara, ravaoli and around twenty other dishes. I wasn't in a pasta-mood however brother #1, uncle and cousin were. Brother #1 and cousin, both ordered spaghetti bolognaise. This came in a huge white bowl, and the portion was huge. The spaghetti was steaming hot when it came, and the mince was sat nicely on top. When served they were both asked wheather they'd like parmasan cheese grated on top, however they both declined. They both greatly enjoyed there meal, but were unable to finish it due to the huge portions.
Uncle opted for a special pasta dish. "Calzoncelli" and again the portion was huge. The dish was handmade pasta, stuffed with different meats and served in a chunky bolognaise sauce. His meal also came with a mini baguette which he enjoyed thoroughly.

PIZZA- You can't go to an italian restaurant and not be plauged with pizza choices on the menu, and this, was no different. There was a huge section on the menu dedicated to pizza, and this is where my meal choice came from. The pizzas available included; regular margheritta, spicey sausages, vegetarian, chicken, hams and lots, lots more. I eventually decided on a pizza called "Primavera". This pizza was incredibly cheesy, and was topped with tomatos, parma ham, and rocket. The pizza was fairly thin, with a nice crispy crust. It was quite greasy though but not overly and didn't make the pizza un-enjoyable in any way.
Brother #2 opted for the plain cheese and tomato pizza. It was the same size as the one I ordered, again thin with a lovely crispy base. It looked very cheesy though and wasn't sure if my brother would like it, however thankfully he was singing its praises for around two hours afterwards.
My mum also decided she'd like a pizza for her main course. She went for the "Marinara" pizza, which was cheese and tomato with lots of seafood on top. The pizza didn't look as cheesy as the others which was good as she isn't a fan. The sea food on top included tuna and prawns, and to be honest it did look quite delicious.

SALADS- As my auntie had, had a pasta dish for her starter she decided to sample one of the salads on the menu. Among the range were ; egg, tuna, tomato and chicken salads. However my auntie opted for the "Caesor Salad", this came with mixed salad, and topped with large peices of warm mushroom and some large strips of grilled chicken. The portion size was extremely large, and the toppings were in there masses too. On the side of the plate, there was a ramekin which contained some crutouns, however my uncle polished these off instead.

OTHERS- Aswell as all of the traditional italian dishes on the menu, there were various other options too. There was a wide variety of chicken dishes, including; chicken breast in a creamy white wine sauce, and stuffed chicken breast. The chicken dishes came served with either chips or potatos and a selection of vegetables or salad.
If you feel like a real meat dish, this is not a problem as there a huge list of beef and meet dishes. Among the options were sirloin steak, fresh veal and pork chops. These all were served with there ingredients wheather they be mushrooms to pineapple, aswell as chips and vegetables. I did see a family at another table who had all gone for beef dishes and the portions looked absolutely massive!
If you are vegetarian this need not matter at Vittoria. There are plenty of fish dishes on offer. I'm not actually sure if these are available daily as we didn't see anybody with fish nor get even a faint whiff of it however i'm sure if you ask they'll be happy to tell you. On the menu however, we are told that among the options were ;haddock, cod, seabass, tuna steaks, lemon sole and various others. Most of these are served with chips and vegetables however some are not.

VITTORIAS FAVOURITES- On the back of the menu, we are told about Vittoria's special dishes. The dishes here are not purely italian, and include omelettes, gammon steaks, and sausage, bacon and eggs. Each of the Vittoria favourites are served with chips. To be honest I wouldn't go into an italian restaurant and order something brittish like this as I feel it defeats the point, but they are always available if you have that desire.

DESSERTS
The desserts are kept on a different, smaller menu. However although the menu is smaller, it doesn't mean the choice is. Infact, the dessert menu was so large it took us all around ten minutes to decide what too order.
The dessert menu is in a way seperated in to three parts; desserts, ice creams, and sundaes. Every single dessert on the menu sounded incredibly delicious and it was almost impossible to choose just one!

DESSERTS- The "desserts" part of the pudding menu, excludes all ice cream dishes. This part included dishes such as apple pie, banoffee pie, strawberrys and cream, chocolate mousse and toffee sponge cake. Most of these desserts came served with either cream or ice cream. My mum decided on the banoffee pie. She was thrilled with the size of the dessert; a huge slab of crunchy yet crumbly biscuit base, a thick layer of banana, an even thicker layer of toffee cream/custard type "stuff", a large layer of toffee sauce, and then layered with even more peices of banana. The banoffee pie came with cream or ice cream, and my mum opted for the ice cream. She did struggle to finish her pudding, but she does insist it was gorgoues.
My uncle opted for a cheesecake. The particular cheesecake was Maple and Pecan. Again a humungus portion, and could have easily been shared between two. Again the base was crumbly yet very firm, and the cream cheese layer was light and fluffy. I didn't really notice the maple sauce however there were 4 large pecan nuts set ontop of the pudding.
My auntie opted for the apple crumble. I was quite confused when this came in a square slab, however it had obviously been plated up incredibly carefully. The apple was steaming hot and my auntie actually burned her mouth on it. However the temperature of the pudding was compliemented greatly with the cool vanilla ice cream it came served with.

SUNDAES- The range of sundaes in Vittoria's is absolutely huge. There are around fifteen different types. These included; Knickerbocker Glory, Hot chocolate marshmallow, Mont Blanc, and Coppa Bababa (i'm sure that's what it was called). I decided to go for a sundae, and after much deliberation I decided on the "Caramel Fudge Treat". My sundae came in a huge! sundae glass, and I really wondered wheather i'd be able to finsih it. The Caramel Fudge Treat came with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, 2 scoops of caramel ice and was topped with real peices of fudge, nuts (I asked for it without the nuts and they were more than happy to leave them out), fresh cream, and some thin peices of something that tasted like lumps of sugar. In the bottom of my dish was a huge puddle of caramel sauce, i'm sure it had been hot to begin with but by the time i'd got to it, it was barely luke warm. My sundae was absolutely gorgeous and I would definitly order it again.
My cousin decided on a "Hot chocolate Marshmallow" sundae. This came served in a large glass the same size as mine, however had an extremely different appearence. The sundae contained 3 scoops of chocolate ice cream and one scoop of vanilla. On top of the ice cream, a hot chocolate sauce was drizzeled (I was quite confused how my sauce had all sunk to the bottom yet the chocolate sauce sat neatly on top!), and then piled high with small marshmallows, cream and 2 triangle shaped wafers. My cousin thoroughly enjoyed his dessert, and he managed to finish it in under ten minutes. He did feel slightly sick afterwards though and wouldn't recommend gulping it down!

ICE CREAM- Vittoria's has a massive range of different ice creams. These ranged from the regular strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, to some more interesting and unusal ideas, such as ginger bread, maple walnut, and a special tiramisu ice cream. The ice cream comes in 3 different portion sizes; 2 scoops, three scoops or 4 scoops. My two brother both opted for the ice cream, brother number 2 decided on two scoops and brother number 1 (his eyes being bigger than his belly) opted for a massive four scoops.
Brother #1 chose the mint chocolate ice cream. The ice cream came served in a large glass, slightly smaller than the sundae glasses. The ice cream was a pale green colour dotted with large peices of milk chocolate. On top of the ice cream were 2 large curls of chocolate which were happily devoured along with the ice cream. Apparantly the ice cream was gorgeous and was much better than Supermarket ice cream! My brother tried to buy some off the waiter to take home, but sadly he wasn't havign any of it!
Brother #2 !"haggled" with the waiter and in the ended ended up ordering one scoop of vanilla and one scoop of chocolate. I'm not sure this is something you're meant to do, but my brother is incredibly cute so it was difficult to say no. The two scoops didn't come in a glass, instead it came in a glass bowl, very pretty and wonderfully presented. The vanilla ice cream was a bright white colour with some little black specks through it (brother wasn't too impressed by these), and the chocolate ice cream was a deep brown colour, completely smooth!

Overall we were thoroughly impressed with the desesrts and we would definitly recommend them!!

BREAKFAST MENU/LUNCHTIME MENU
Although called the breakfast menu, it is actually available from 10am - 5pm. The breakfast menu is available every day however only at the allocated times and it is subject to availability as the waiter told us. The breakfast menu is crammed full of delicious dishes which would be perfect to start any day.
You can choose from a selection of filled rolls. These come with fillings such as Bacon, egg, sausage, and black pudding and usually sell between £2-£4.
There were also a wide variety of burgers, including a regular beef burger, veggie burgers, cheese burgers and chicken burgers etc. These all come in a warm bun and served with or without fried onions.
Side dishes are also available at this time, such as chips (£3). Although this is an italian restaurant they do a wide variety of cooked breakfasts, including bacon, sausage, spicey sausage, baked beans, omelettes and toast. The breakfasts cost between £4-£10, depending on what you'd like in your meal. There are also a selection of ciabatta breads with fillings such as ham, cheese, chicken etc, selling at roughly £5.

As we were dining at tea time, we weren't able to order off the lunch time menu, however we did ask if we could have a look at it and they happily agreed.
The lunch time menu is available between 12pm and 5pm, however the menu is not available at the weekend. The menu is incredibly varied, although fairly similar to the breakfast menu.
Again there were a selection of hot or cold filled rolls and burger type things. However at this time you can also buy pasta dishes selling slightly cheaper!

WINES AND DRINKS
The drinks list is just as varied as the food menu and again, as with the food there is a drink to suit everybody.
As with most restaurants there are a wide selection of soft drinks available including, coke, diet coke, irn bru, sprite, appletiser, fresh juices and bottled mineral water (sparkling or non-sparkling). There are also a huge choice of coffees and hot drinks available too. My brother ordered a hot chocolate, which came served with a huge helping of whipped cream. The choice of coffee's was amazing too, starting at the regular black coffees, to some some fantastic ones such as "Caffee con Panna" and "Caffe Freddo". My Auntie and mum both enjoyed a coffee each and they were apparantly incredibly tastey. Aswell as coffees there is a small selection of different teas on offer too. None of us actually tried a cup of tea here, but among the selction was tropical fruit tea, and regular tea too.
There was a part of the drinks menu which intrueged my cousin so much he just had to try, there were a selection of milk shakes including chocolate and strawberry, however there was also an option of an "ice cream soda". This was a drink including ice cream and a fizzy drink of your own choice. This was apparantly delicious, and my cousin is going too (apparantly) try his own ice cream soda at home. (God help my auntie and uncle!!!).

ALCOHOL- As well as the drinks such as coffee and cokes, there was also a HUGE variety of different alcoholic drinks. There was a seperate wine menu, however on the regular drinks menu was a choice of bottled drinks including Smirnoff ice, barcardi breezers and bottled beers.
The wine menu was huge. A huge selection of whites and reds, rose's etc, which could be either served by the bottle or by the glass.

PRICES
The meal out was not a cheap one, thats for sure.
Starters began at around £3 and went all the way up to around £10 depending on what you were having. Most of the starters cost between £5-£8. In my opinion this wasn't overly expensive but if you aren't feeling to hungry and simply want a starter for the sake of it, i'd recommend sharing with a partner or a friend.
Main Courses are fairly expensive too! The pizza's cost between £7-£8, and if you'd like extra toppings these also cost more! The pizzas are really delicious though, so I suppose, in theory they're worth the money.
The pasta dishes are roughly the same price as the pizzas, costing roughly between £7-£11. Obviously, the plainer the dish is the "cheaper" your meal will be.
The chicken dishes sell for between £10-£13, the meat dishes between £14-£20, and the fish dishes between £8-£20. Again, the more rare the fish/chicken/meat dish is, the higher the cost is going to be. The Vettoria favourite dishes are priced between £10-£16.

The dessert menu is extremely good value for money. Each of the desserts costs £3.95 which for the amazingly large portions you get, is superb value! The sundaes are all priced differently depending on what the ingredients they include, the prices vary from between £3-£8. For the size of the sundae, again I think this is absolutely fantastic value.
The ice creams are priced depending on the amount of scoops you get are. I can't entirely rememeber what the prices are, but each scoop added costs an extra £1 if I remember correctly.

The drinks were priced reasonably aswell. Wine was priced roughly at £15-£40 per bottle, or £8 for a half a bottle. A glass of wine could also be bought for between £3-£7. It does seem pretty expensive, but apparantly it was worth it (I never tried it myself).
Soft drinks were selling at around £2 for a regular glass and around £3 for a large. The large glasses were more like humungus supersize glasses though so definitly worth the price. Bottled beer was selling for around £3 and other alcoholic bottles between £2-£5. Coffees and teas were also selling for between £2-£3.

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BOOKING A TABLE
It is possible to book a table before dining out in Vittorias. You can either do this by booking over the phone, or going online and booking through the internet. It is not neccessary to do this however I think if you have a large group of people it would be better to do this as you can guarantee everybody will be seated togehter. Parties with over 6 people are only permitted to book over the phone.
Parties are also available at Vittorias, and again it is better too book over the phone. You will be given a choice of 3 menu's to chose from, menu A, menu B and menu C. Each menu is a slightly different price and will give you a different menu!
A deposit is required if your party goes beyond 11 people, however if there is under 11 people in your party a deposit is not required. Nomrally the deposit is between £10 to £20.

KIDS
The restaurant does provide some suitable dishes for kids however there isn't a special childrens menu so bare this in mind if you are thinking about taking kids here! There seemed to be only 3 highchairs in the restaurant, so it would be best to make sure before you go there will be one readily available. There isn't much for kids here in the way of entertainment, however the staff do communicate with younger kids by the looks of things, so all is not bad!

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The restaurant and staff all boast that a christmas and new year menu are available too.

Overall we were thoroughly impressed with the restaurant and will definitly be dining out here again in the near futre!

SweetTooth 93 

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