Italian: de Santis

de Santis
5-23 Old St
EC1V 9HL
Tel: 020 7689 5626

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, June 25

The Damage: £5

The Victim: Me

The Background: Sometimes, I forget I'm a foreigner. I had to run home during lunch the other day to grab my passport so I could prove my identity. I was a little weirded out about going home at lunch  because the last time I went home at lunch, two guys from the Council were at my building and told me about the rats. Yikes.

But there were no Council guys or rats so I was in and out in a jiffy so I dropped into de Santis for lunch on my way back into the office.

The Entrance: It's just 12, and de Santis is empty. I order pasta with green beans, potatoes, and pesto. The staff walk around for a while as if they're looking for something. I honestly think they were looking for the chef. Never a good sign.

The Food: I brought the pasta back to the office and enjoyed it. For £5, it was pretty high quality. I liked it enough that I actually dropped back in on my way home from work, lured by the promise of free aperitivos. See, de Santis is a Milanese chain, and the Milanese, they love their aperitivos. If you've never had aperitivios before, well, it just means that you get some nice free snacks with your drink. So I figured I'd have some aperitivios while I waited for my food.

But there was a problem. No one wanted to take my order. The staff spent a lot of time going up and down the stairs. And when they did finally take my order, they couldn't understand a word I was saying. Now I know I don't speak the Queen's English, but I speak some pretty decent English. I was reduced to sign language, something that has never happened to me before in this country. Personally, I think they were trying to feign ignorance because they didn't want to give me any aperitivos. Weird.

The Verdict: The food, particularly take-away at lunch, is decently priced. And it doesn't taste bad. But something is wrong with the service.