Luna Caprese Restaurant

Neat décor, excellent service, but aside from that? Not impressed. I left feeling like a terrible person because I couldn’t finish my food and the owner was insulted.
I ordered the minestrone (seeing it was the only thing a vegan could have on their lunch menu). With two sips I realized it wasn’t quite right. Ignoring the fact the vegetables were break-​apart soggy, and that there was no flavor, something about the broth reminded me of chicken.
I asked the owner (only working staff member) and he INSISTED it was water and vegetables. Nothing else (even though I could see the oily gleam on the soup’s surface). Two more bites and Yep! Getting nauseous. I stop. When my colleagues are finished and our dishes are cleared, the owner’s irritation was radiating off onto me. I felt terrible (literally). Easy way to insult an Italian? Don’t finish your food.
So what do I have to say? Vegetarians/​vegans: Run. Run away. Or else you had better prepare yourself for a disappointing meal and staff hatred.

I was taken for a meal here a few years ago and loved it, so much so I raved about it to all my friends and was surprised when they didn’t share my ethusiasm. Cue a repeat visit for my husband’s birthday and well, the reason for my friends’ lack of enthusiasm became apparent.
The service is good, if perhaps over-​zealous and the décor is strange to say the least, but it has its own charm. The food however seemed to have taken a nose-​dive since our last visit. The starters were fine, my ravioli was nice and my husband’s meat platter was lovely. But it seemed that the main was over-​salted, the vegetables limp and it all just seemed a little tired.
The prices are not too bad, the set-​menu offers are good value and the sunday buffet is good. This place was once my top insider secret for a fab meal out, now I just feel that its lost its way somewhat.

I went to Luna Caprese one rainy night and was too relieved to be in the warm and dry to be put off by the strange fake rock décor. The waiter was very friendly, but almost offputtingly so — he seemed overly eager to please, but perhaps that’s because there were only 2 other parties in the restaurant, and lots of empty tables. Maybe it gets busier at the weekend, but it did at least mean we got served quickly. We were given breadsticks before our meal, which was added to our bill, which made us feel a bit cheated, as we hadn’t been asked if we wanted it and we hadn’t eaten it all. The drinks were also expensive, considering we only had soft drinks. Our food was rather disappointing: I had bolognese, which hardly had any meat in; the meat was so finely cut that it fell through the prongs in my fork, and my partner’s pasta was oily. The prices weren’t too bad and we didn’t feel hurried at all, but it wasn’t the greatest eating experience and I don’t think we’ll be going back.