Review of 'Enzo Ristorante & Pizzeria'

Located a short distance along the Weymouth Esplanade near the Jubilee Clock this local restaurant is hopping but one wonders whether it is because of the lack of any other choices? We visited early on a rainy Saturday evening in October so you would perhaps expect the place to be quite quiet being off-season and miserable out and all…but, no, the place was hopping with a full slate of reservations so we were consigned to the basement. There is a modest amount of seating on the ground floor which is preferable given that you might make out the ocean in the distance across the busy road…or at least see outside.

Downstairs

There are three menus: A “specials of the day” A4 piece of paper, a double-sided laminated placemat sized one and a small desert menu brought out after you are done with your mains. The main menu is divided into “Stuzzichini” (nibbles), “Starters”, “Insalata”, “Le Paste”, “Le Pizze”, “Secondi Piatti / Main Courses”, (flipping over) drinks. The prices are all reasonable with starters all below £10, pasta/pizza between £10 and £13, and mains £14 to £23. Looking over the offerings there is nothing particularly outstanding looking though I was drawn to the seafood with the hope that being in a fishing region the options might be better so I chose the “Risotto Marinara” (seafood risotto; £15.95) from the specials of the day but started with soup of the day (carrot and roasted red pepper; £4.95).

Soup of the Day

The soup was quite good but a bit bland. It was served with a thin quarter of a fried flatbread that was good but I would have preferred some honest-to-goodness bread or bun to soak up the soup.

Pomodora Mozzarella

My companion started with “Insalata Pomodora E. Mozzarella” (cherry tomato salad and small Mozzarella balls; £7.50) which was quite small but fresh and tasty, arranged nicely on the plate.

Risotto Marinara

The risotto was a huge disappointment, not in the amount or variety of seafood (there was lots) but in that the risotto itself was more like a liquidy rice than the smooth, creaminess that it should be. The dish seemed hurried and more interested in the seafood ingredients which would often be praiseworthy but dramatically let down by a lacklustre risotto. The seafood included lots of mussels, calamari rings (slightly chewy but not bad), prawns and some un-named white fish.

Tagliatelle al Salmone

On the other side of the table, the main was the “Tagliatelle al Salmone” (£12.50) which had small pieces of salmon and not very flavourful. It would have been nice to have had larger pieces of fish but the whole dish did not taste fishy suggesting it was quite fresh. The pasta itself was cooked correctly (al dente) and the portion size was just right, not too big.

Banoffee

So, far, not so good but we pressed on to see if we could find anything standout on the small desert menu eventually deciding on sharing an order of “Bermudian Banoffee” (“Crunchy toffee base with chocolate sponge and slices of fresh banana, covered in banana mouse cream drizzled with caramel; £5.95) which had the nicest description, avoiding the often alcohol-laden “Tiaramisu” (£5.50) and uninspiring gelato on offer. We would have been better off skipping this. There was little, if any, banana at all and the “banana mouse cream” was more simply unsweetened whipped cream and there was only the barest hint of caramel…there was, however, lots of a crumbly base (though I would hardly call it “crunchy toffee”). Extraordinarily bland and extremely disappointing.

When we first arrived there were only a few people in the basement with us but as it got closer to 7 pm it filled up quite dramatically with service going out the window. To get our bill we had to wave down three separate staff members and wait about 15 minutes before the bill was delivered then wait another 5 minutes more for the card machine to arrive. According to the reasonably friendly waiter it was not really that busy so I cannot imagine what the food and service would be like if it was…

On the COVID side of things, the tables were reasonably well spaced and the staff did use their face coverings as well as cleaning the tables quite thoroughly after each service.

The total bill came to £52.10 which did not include a tip (which the card machine allowed you to do), with a service charge only automatically added with larger groups. So, not too bad for three courses and two non-alcoholic drinks.

Generally, disappointing food perhaps because of the demands on the kitchen with so many people. Food seemed to be prepared in quantity without too much care, perhaps for an uncaring clientele? Of course, to be sure we should have tried the pizza which took up the center part of the menu but an Italian restaurant should be able to do the basics right: Pasta and, true a bit of a test, risotto. Service could have been better but, generally, quite friendly. So if you want to visit, skip the pasta and mains, try the pizza instead and try to visit when the place is not jammed.

Rating: “Average, but who wants to be average?”

Review Date: 2020-10-12


Cuisine: Italian

Address: 110 The Esplanade, Weymouth DT4 7EA ENGLAND

Location: Dorset (England) - Weymouth

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Telephone: +44 (0) 1305 778666

URL: https://enzo-ristorante.co.uk/