Reviews of Flour & Grape

Agree 100% with Philpotts24 about his xxth Party. The food was good, the staff very sympa and the event was sublime. Local bel canto and lots of laffs.

But also went to Antico's gin bar downstairs last night. Cosmopolitan, elegantly rammed and serving Negronis until the sun went down...and then some ! Excellent.

Same venue, two very different vibes....take your pick

I have been to Antico many times, since it opened in January 2012. As a result, I decided to have a 'significant' Birthday celebration on 24 May, at lunchtime.

From the outset, Nick's Assistant Manager and then his Event Manager were helpful in the planning of the day.

There were 31 of us, including 2 young children and everything about the event was excellent: food, service, ambience.

Despite booking for 35, there were [inevitably] last minute gaps due to illness - but I picked up a couple of friends, at the 11th hour.

Everybody enjoyed the day! We lingered for 3 hours and then went over to Shortwave, in Bermondsey Square, to sit in the sun.

Many thanks, Nick, Victoria and Crew :-)

Antico has come on in leaps and bounds since it started, now really good food and a great gin bar. One thing that has always narked though, is the really mean nightcaps. Italian hospitality normally finishes with a decent glass of Limoncello/Sambucca/Grappa etc - they often just leave the bottle on the table - pour it into your coffee cup.. But despite raising it repeatedly, we keep getting charged ten quid for a 25ml (exactly!) glass - it makes Berlusconi look charitable - and joking aside it ends the meal with a sour bad experience which just puts you off. Charge more for the rest if you must, but the charm at the end is important - or the lack of it.

Had another great meal at Antico. The food is as good as ever. The menu looks great - difficult to decide what to eat - I wanted them all. The service is warm, welcoming, friendly and efficient. And the 214 bar downstairs is great to have a post dinner nightcap - the espresso martini in particular !

Nick and the team are doing a FANTASTIC job - this is a great restaurant !

We went to Antico last night for dinner. We had a gin cocktail in the basement bar beforehand which was a nice start to the evening. Lots of cocktails, wine and beer choices and fairly well priced

The food in the restaurant was excellent - the monkfish risotto in particular ! Despite it being VERY busy, the staff were friendly and efficient.

A post-meal drink afterwards in the bar again made it a great evening.

This is a good restaurant, but with the addition of the basement bar, it has become a great one !

Highly recommended

I've been putting off going to Antico for ages after reading some very negative reviews from when it first opened.

However, today (Friday) I wanted to find somewhere for a cocktail and Village East/Hide were both rammed. Went into Antico's underground bar and was very pleasantly surprised. Only planned on staying for one drink, but ended up staying for three thanks to a very friendly Italian barman who talked us through all the ingredients. Had a lychee martini followed by a cocktail called "cosicaldo" -- a tequila and lime-based drink with some chili in it.

Just got home but already contemplating popping back out after dinner for one more!

Great last-minute meal in Antico last night. Just what a good local restaurant should be - friendly, fast and great quality pieces of meat served. Very smiley waitress and friendly door host (who I think is the owner). Thanks.

Ate here with a friend on Saturday night and we were both blown away by how good this place is. Nice atmosphere (stylish, but not pretentious); unobtrusive and decent service; delicious food with a good choice (when you include the specials board); and excellent value. Will definitely return.

Went to Antico last week to farewell a retiring colleague. We were welcomed and offered drinks within a couple of minutes (always a good sign)and despite the restaurant being packed (it was Thursday) we had prompt and friendly service all evening. Starters were all fresh and delicious in particular the prawn and squid fritti, devon crab and aubergine carpaccio. Calves liver,monkfish risotto and roasted lamb were the pick of the mains. Caramel gelato finished things off nicely. Antico takes on no airs and graces. It serves up good honest no-nonsense fare with friendly efficiency. long may this standard continue Highly recommended. Antico is a welcome addition to the embryonic foodie-heaven that is Bermondsey Street.

A group of 6 went to Antico last night. Good food (although not quite as striking as Zucca and Pizarro). Good service. Buzzy and friendly. Did not go to the bar so cannot comment. Only gripe is it is quite expensive with side orders, etc. I think they should offer some bread &/or olives. Other than that, I would recommend it.

The review below is just a rant and I don't think it is fair. Antico isn't that bad and it's certainly not corporate. The reviewer only registered yesterday on the site and it looks like they have some motive beyond a 'normal' restaurant review.

What's so special about another Gordon Ramsay's style restaurant in SE1: absolutely nothing!
There is nothing special to this establishment, except for the good location in which it exists. Bermosdsey Street is a lovely street in the so called 'More London' surrounded by ultra-modern buildings and offices.
It comes to no surprise then that somebody has the brilliant idea to provide the area with what sells, fast effectively and without soul. The atmosphere at Antico is tense and messy, feels like nobody knows what's going on. You can see they are trying very hard to portray a friendly image of courtesy, but if you've been around for as long as I have in this business, you'll sport right away that they haven't got a clue of what good customer service and genuine spirit of courtesy is. It's a facade, a fake, a product that serves the corporate world that surrounds it: workers that are used to be overcharged for little food, the same food that has nothing amazing, because you can find it anywhere else only with less pretentiousness. There is nothing in the restaurant that remotely reminds you of the history of the area or the building. Antico translates from Italian 'antique': there is not a single element in the restaurant that reminds you of that, that adds a little bit of personality or originality to the space. Not in the furniture, not in the lighting, not in the environment as a whole. Save your money.

7 of us went for dinner last night. Place was buzzing with a friendly and mixed crowd. We all had 2 or 3 courses and everyone enjoyed their food. Our waitress was great, bubbly, friendly and attentive. £37/per head including a fair bit of wine and service. The bar area downstairs was empty and it's a fairly sterile setting - I can't imagine sitting in there for a drink, there is no atmosphere. Not sure what they could do with this space, I can't see it working as a bar area. Maybe just put more tables and make it a more informal dining area? Anyway, good luck and we really enjoyed our dinner last night.

I returned to Antico on Friday evening, having joined friends for a drink at their table, earlier in the week.

Again, it was busy and buzzy - candlelit on tables and window-sills, on both walls. We were greeted warmly, our booking checked and led to our table. I do like the entrance lobby, with a beautiful arrangement of flowers; it is very welcoming. The music was at just the right level for a busy room and we didn't have to shout across our table.

Bread and oil were brought and we ordered a Bellini each, which arrived swiftly. A very good start. We took our time studying the compact menu and plumped, finally, for Chicken Liver & Pancetta Pate Crostini and the Squid and Prawn Fritti. Both very tasty!

I ordered Tiger Prawn Linguine and my guest chose Braised Lamb Neck Fillet in Red Wine with soft polenta. We shared a leaf salad, with a tangy lemon dressing.

We tasted each other's choices for both courses and agreed that all the food was excellent; tasty, well presented and just the right size portions.

My guest passed on pudding but I had a very cheeky, and generous, portion of Tiramisu. The waitress kindly brought two spoons and my guest succumbed to a few spoonfulls of the sweet, light dessert.

We chose a bottle of 2010 Nero dʼ’Avola IGT Sicilia [Terra Firma], which is their House Red, and a really good choice.

The service was faultless [our candle was replaced within moments of burning out]; Nick, the proprietor, Jo, the Manager both came over for a chat - and they worked the busy room, serving guests.

We both thoroughly enjoyed our visit, which was an unhurried 1hr and 40 minutes; just right. A palpable hit!

Had Sunday lunch at Antico and was pleasantly impressed. While lacking the sexiness of Pizarro or the creative flourishes of Zucca, Antico is a welcome addition to the potential foodie-heaven that is Bermondsey St. A simple choice of 4 starters, 4 mains and 4 deserts with a straightforward £22 or £26 price made for a welcome uncomplicated start to the meal. squid and prawn fritti and chicken and prusciutto bruscetta were tasty and substantial starters while our 2 delicious mains were slow roasted belly of pork and a great home-made lasagne. Service throughout was excellent.We will be back! Incidentally, with Antico, Zucca and Pizarro raising the bar so high on the south end of Bermondsey St tired old Village East must be wondering how they can possibly keep up.