Il Ponte

I apologise in advance for the moaning review that is about to occur.
Oh no, no, no, no, no…
To be honest I knew the food was going to be bad purely because of it’s location. I have tried Jimmy Spices and Mangal Meze Bar in Derby Square, not to mention Slug and Lettuce (once, when I was desperate, don’t judge me!) and all of them are bad bad bad.
I feel a little guilty because the staff were friendly, chatty and attentive to our huge party, plus the pizzas that some friends ordered looked fantastic! My meal was truly awful. It came out 10 minutes after everyone else because they forgot me (it happens, no big deal, I do think I might be cursed though as it tends to happen to me a lot), despite the fact I was having exactly the same as the person next to me and the waiter knew this as he was impressed (unsure why) that we both wanted our lamb rare.
When it did arrive it was mainly fat and I picked what meat I could from the ‘shank’. It was also covered in a glob of thick and sickly sauce. The roast potatoes were nice. The meal didn’t come with anything else so we ordered some mixed veggies and were served up a gross selection of badly steamed, wilted veg.
My other half had salmon steak with prawns served on linguine. It looked gross, it tasted worse. Salmon was dry, prawns were cooked to within an inch of their life and were super-​chewy and the sauce was terrible.
Such a shame. If you go — order the pizza!

There are a few Il Ponte restaurants dotted around Surrey, and this one is much the same as its Sutton sibling: the food is prepared well, the prices are reasonable and the lunch menu is good value. I suggest steering clear of the pizzas (too oily) but the pasta dishes and salads have hit the spot on several occasions, and there are plenty more substantial items on the menu.
The fly in the ointment is the overenthusiastic manager, whose behaviour can sometimes be rather odd. On several visits we’ve been rather unnerved to see him staring repeatedly out of the front window as though expecting a hit squad to abseil down from the roof at any moment — I assume that he’s just scouting for customers (and we’ve been hailed by him on our way past, which is rather intrusive) but it makes the dining experience less relaxing than it deserves to be.
So: three stars, and add one extra if you like your dining to have a slightly bizarre twist to it.

At the risk of sounding like I’m damning with faint praise, Il Ponte is my favourite of the chains of Italian eateries that populate the high streets of Surrey.
Perhaps I’ve been a bit naïve but I’ve only just discovered just how little proper cooking occurs in chain restaurants with food being delivered from central locations and reheated on-​site. So it’s great to have the open-​plan kitchen in this restaurant so I can check that the chef isn’t just snipping open some packet of ready-​made sauce.
The menu is also a little more bold rather than just sticking to the pizza/​pasta/​risotto formula. Bruschetta came rubbed with garlic and topped with wonderfully fresh and sweet tomatoes and rocket with some balsamic to add some zing.
I then had wonderfully cooked calf’s liver with bacon for main. The tender liver was cooked to perfection and convinced me that there was a proper chef in the kitchen.
Panna cota had the right flavour but had a little much gelatin in it for my taste, making it a bit rubbery.
Overall, a lovely meal and perhaps the best praise is to say that it didn’t seem like a chain restaurant.

Now this is the second best restaurant in Epsom with only Jimmys spices surpassing it. The lunchtime special of £5.95 for most of the dishes is absolutley brilliant.
100% recommended