Category: Bistro
Tenore is a pleasant neighborhood Italian in Islington (about 10 min walk from Angel) serving traditional Sardinian cuisine. It’s a shame that despite their decent food they disappoint by their lack of attention to detail.
Our recent dining experience at Tenore was mixed:I thought the food was really quite good. We shared the Pecorino Arrosto (£8.25) – the delicious melted pecorino cheese was refined with pesto and fresh tomatoes and served in a small clay pot. It was quite rich so you kind of had to eat it with bread. The bread unfortunately was their first let down as they charged 2 pounds for stale and dry bread. Also charging over 8 pounds for a bit of cheese I found a bit excessive.
As a second course we had pasta which was cooked perfectly al dente. The waiter recommended Spaghetti bottarga &vongole (£10.55) I am not a big fan of fish roe usually,but they did not overpower this dish at all,the sauce was lovely and worked very well with the nicely cooked clams.
The Tagliatella al Cinghiale (£10.50) were good too,the pasta immersed generously in rich and tasty wild boar ragu. But also here a letdown – the Parmesan was already on the pasta when it was served and we were not offered any more. In addition we asked for olive oil twice and never received any.
In the end,even though I really liked the food,a whole dinner experience is an amalgamation of not only food but also ambiance and service and Tenore did not convince there.
- Food: 7/10 (lost one point for stale bread)
- Ambiance: 6/10
- Service: 5/10
- Value for money: 6.5/10
- Chances of returning: 10%
- Verdict: decent food but lack of attention to detail.
14 Barnsbury Road,Islington,London N1 oHB
0207 2786955
I am Sardinian and a customer of Tenore,so I go there at least 1 or 2 times a week;
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I feel a bit offended by this email considering the 2 facts that the bread it is not expensive as there is not service on the final bill,and it quiet reasonable compare to some big/cheap names where the bread cost £4.00 plus service charge,no far from Tenore.In Italy it is normal you pay for bread and for coverage,in england it is normal you pay for service!As a customers we never win!
One more thing in the tagliatelle al cinghiale there is not Parmesan but Pecorino
Hope i gonna meet you a tenore on of this day!
Hi Tony,thanks for your comment and sorry if I offended you. I always mix up parmesan and pecorino but hope won’t anymore…
I don;t mind paying for bread (I agree it’s better than 12.5% service charge!) if the bread is nice,which it wasn’t…
I agree with you that Tenore is nice and reasonable priced compared to loads of other places,I would have loved to give it a “green light”but found that there were a few things not quite right.
I should maybe give it another try when I’m in the area,now that I got it recommended so warmly by a Sardinian regular!