Excellent food and service. We ate early, so it wasn't really crowded. Seemed to be family owned…read moreand it was fun to watch our Mixed Grill Platter being cooked on the indoor charcoal grill. Very nice experience.

Nice dinner spot in York- you can watch them grill meats under a large vent hood as people order…read morethem. Lamb is excellent- cooked nicely so it's still tender and retains all its flavors. The yogurt sauce is a perfect pairing. The aubergine dish is great as well, fantastic option of vegetarian- it's chargrilled so it's really tender but full of flavor and topped with peppers, onions, and garlic. The rice has a wonderful nutty flavor and the salad is refreshing. Food takes a little while to come out but it tastes freshly prepared. Servings are a good size, price is mid tier (total for 2 dishes was a little under £50).

Ambiente is an absolute gem of a restaurant. We are tapas fans and these were some of the best…read moretapas we have ever eaten! We ordered Dates wrapped in Serrano ham, golden beef empanadas, lightly battered calamari, delicious shrimp, and chorizo y patatas in a delicious wine sauce. Service was excellent as well.

Great service, great food authentic Spanish Tapas. Great service and fair prices. I highly…read morerecommend this restaurant for lunch or dinner.

I love this place…read more Greek food is one of my favourites, I've spent a lot of time in Greece, and this little place (it really is dinky) owned by an English lady and her Greek husband, really do Greek food well. The menu is relatively varied, of course with all the classics. I've visited a few times now, and it is probably the best Greek food I've had not adjacent to the Aegean. The decor is cute, and if you don't face the large glass front, you can, fairly well, pretend you're in a little Greek taverna instead of the not so glamourous Stockton On Tees (no offence, I just really love Greece). The baklava is also completely gorgeous, not a pathetic soggy attempt you often get in this country.

Really nice selection of food and able to accommodate large groups the staff are very nice and…read moreaccommodating and always there to help

We had arranged to go here for Sunday lunch with a friend after what ended up being a heavy…read moreSaturday night out and needless to say I was looking forward to it too much if anything the only thing what speared me on was knowing I could have an "hair of dog" to try and make me feel human again!! This always used to be one if those places you would visit only for special occasions so going for Sunday lunch seemed a little strange for me but then again that might have been the hangover talking! However I shouldn't have been so worried they have recently decorated and it looks really warm and welcoming inside while maintaining that special occasion feel. It was really busy upon our arrival but we had an ace up our sleeve as the friend we was meeting use to work here so got seated pretty sharpish (cheeky I know but get I was hungover remember!) we ordered some drinks and once my first San Miguel slid down I started returning to the land of the living. We were handed the menus and they had a set menu for Sunday lunch 3 courses for 15.95 which is pretty good value in my book taking into account what was available they had a variety of starters a king prawn dish classic, prawn cocktail, pâté and soup of the day amongst others I opted for the pâté which I usually steer clear for obvious reasons, but as it was a higher class of restaurant felt pretty confident it would be quality ingredients! The pâté came and I was expecting a small ramekin on pâté with I couple of slices of Melba toast but what came was like a slab and I mean slab of chocolate cake it was huge and only two small pieces of toast which was never going to accommodate such a "slab" of pâté. As one of us was having the soup at least we had some extra bread on the table which I could take advantage of. In the end the pâté defeated me just so much of it was too rich to finish. For the main you could have a traditional roast of the usual beef, pork or half a chicken but I opted the a slightly different braised steak which came with a lovely rich red wine jus and oven roasted shallots. All the dishes came with sides of vegetables roast and mash potatoes and big fluffy Yorkshire puddings which you could ask for more of at no extra cost. It came round to dessert and by this time I had gone from land of the dead to land of the living after my first pint and was now on my way to land of the fairies after having another couple of San Miguels on top of the previous nights alcohol. Dessert again had plenty of choice and at the start of the meal liked the look of the the cheeseboard as a sucker for any form of cheese but as I'd eaten so much and as San Miguel doesn't really compliment cheese opted for the lighter and easier on the palate mandarin cheesecake which again defeated me. All in all it was a pleasant experience and a gentle pick me up to get through a hungover Sunday instead of contemplating dying on the sofa at home. The only thing that spoilt it slightly for me and why it doesn't get 4 stars is it was full of gypsies don't get me wrong I don't mind what kind of people are dining at the same place as me and I'm no snob but all the crazy kids and loud parents just took the edge off it for me and after speaking to our friend that worked there it seems gypsies do go there a lot on a Sunday but every other day it's just business as usual.

We had dinner tonight and had such a good experience that I felt compelled to come back here and…read moretell others. This place is so easy to overlook that despite knowing it existing even I walked right past it (it was a weekday night in the off-season so everyone was upstairs), but there's a decent sign for the narrow spot in the Shambles. This place truly feels like a tiny restaurant you might stumble upon in a small town in Italy. The wait staff is so friendly that you feel as if you're in their home and speak to you just as frankly. I was impressed to hear the waiter recommend the house wine to someone at a nearby table asking over anything on their wine list because of how uncommon primitivos are there and that it's a hardy wine. I had a glass of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. All the food was excellent (as authentic as I've tasted in a while) and very reasonably priced (though we only had starters and pasta) - even the free bread was surprisingly good and very useful in sopping up sauces later in the meal. Keeping in mind that it's a small place and you may be in for a wait if you don't book ahead, I can't imagine it disappointing someone looking for a real Italian experience in York.

Whilst looking for restaurants I could think of to review I was astounded to find that no one had…read morereviewed this place. This has to be one of the best Italian restaurants I have visited outside of Italy. Gianni who runs the place is very friendly and remembered me after my first visit, when I went in again 3 months or so later. It is VERY small so booking is essential I would say (and even then you may have to wait a little when you arrive) but it is perfectly formed, very cosy, warm & with an authentic trattoria feel. The steaks are great as are the house specials but do not go here looking for pizza, the kitchen is too small to make them apparently. The desserts too are out of this world, Toscanella being my fave - which is like a profiterole pie - mm mmm mmmmm!

Staying at Naburn and we visited the olive branch branch and couldn't understand why there was a…read moreone star review on here but we quickly found out that the New owners have not been there long. Both the food and service were fantastic we will certainly return next time we are in the area

The decor is pleasant, as are the waitresses and things are off to promising start with a nicely…read morevaried menu. The prices are not low (more on that later), but we settle on 3 green salads topped with lamb kebab (essentially a £5.95 salad with added meat), two coffees, two diet cokes, and a tiny halloumi salad. The food was great, then we asked for the bill. £75 (argued down from 84), a good verbal quarrel and a lecture (on how restaurants work) later, we walked out wondering how we just spent that much money on something that ended up being as expensive as the biggest entrees in the menu. We were charged for salads, sides, meats and rice, receiving small salads with meat on them. It's a shame: the owner's mercenary pricing and belligerent attitude will hopefully cost him the success of the business, that is otherwise excellent. Avoid on principle, or tread cautiously.

First let me say that the food here is, on the whole, great. The best Steak I have had in a long…read moretime, quality meat cooked perfectly and the chocolate fudge cake was heavenly (and I'm not much of a dessert gal). However. the restaurant itself is like stepping back to the eighties, the awful old posh and exclusive eateries from my youth. You imagine women with stiff sprayed hair in furs and jewels having their chairs held by toupeed, moustachioed men in sports coats. Most people walk straight past here without realising it's existence and for years I must admit I thought it was a Chinese due to the design of the sign hanging half way up a wall somewhere between Marks and Spencers and Newlook on Whitefriargate. It's a tiny little place (seats 20-25 perhaps?) with a great big dark wood bar, terrible decor, Greek themed baubles and trinkets adorning every wall, green velour covered chairs, maroon table cloths, paper napkins, naff patterned plates and some sort of weird white cladding on the walls. The music (which was way too loud) was a very strange mix of traditional Greek music, Rat Pack, Motown and European/Middle Eastern marching band. The menu is mostly steak and fish with a few Greek dishes (I believe the owners are Greek) and European favourites thrown in; Taromasalata, Moussaka, Chateau Briand, Duck A La Orange etc The accompaniments we had to our steaks weren't up to the same standard as the meat. The roast potatoes were deep fried, the cauliflower cheese and the pepper sauce, whilst both very tasty, were luke warm at best. The cheese and biscuits were ok, although they had run out of Stilton. They have silver service here, which is nice enough (although somewhat outdated), but slows down the already incredibly slow service: there was a 7 minute wait between receiving our steaks and being served the vegetables. Yes, it is correct to serve from the customer's left, but not if they are sitting flush up against a wall and have to half get out of their chair to allow for some potatoes to be put on their plate! Finally, I found the fact that we had to walk back down to the bar to pay for the meal as opposed to having our card taken at the table seemed a bit odd. I known I have complained a lot, but the staff were lovely and as I said the steak itself was fantastic. It's one of those places where nothing is awful, but the combined experience brings down the star rating somewhat.

Recently in the Lantern, service very good, food slighty above average…read more Decor very dated, no real heating, just a few portable heaters the place was cold and uncomfortable. Not sure if I would use the place again based on this one off visit. Also agree with the other review about payment, a little strange.

Selections certainly appeals to the passing trade with it's prominently positioned specials board…read moreout for all to see. On entering I received an immediate welcome and swift service with a smile, my initial questions about what was included in the lunchtime offer were dealt with and I was left with a menu which made my mouth water (but my wallet start to suggest that this would be a good time to start skipping lunch). Nevertheless I ordered and was served in a reasonable time. Well, yes, the menu did make my mouth water but sadly I wasn't eating the menu, although the bread and burger might well have been at least partially cardboard from the texture and taste point of view. I was disappointed to find that the chips were from a catering pack and the salad was a little tired. My accompanying latte was average.