Delrio's restaurant, York (Coffee / Tea houses / Internet Cafes in York in general)

Member Name: MGirl

Product:	Coffee / Tea houses / Internet Cafes in York in general
Date:	20/03/05 (375 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Food Poisoning, Poor Service, Poor Quality

My partner and I had heard some great things about Delrio’s in York. It was described by friends as having great atmosphere, great food, not overpriced…

Delrio’s is based underground next to the Micklegate Bar in York. It describes itself as a Sardinian restaurant and so offers a range of pizza and pasta as well as meat and fish.

I had a bad week last week and so decided on Friday night that I’d take my partner out for a meal to welcome the weekend. We called up at 5pm and managed to book a table for half 7. This should have rung warning bells, it’s impossible to book a table anywhere decent in York for the time you want it unless you call a few days ahead.

We arrived at bang on half 7 and were asked whether we’d like to have a drink in the bar first. We chose two bottles of Budvar at £2.80 for 330ml (not exactly Italian but my favourite beer). We were offered 500ml bottles when we ordered so we went for it.

We chatted for a while, then, after 15 minutes managed to get a menu. After 25 we started trying to attract the waiter’s attention. Eventually our order was taken but it took 50 minutes of nursing one beer before we got to the table.

When we arrived at the table it was in a cosy little corner. Quite romantic I thought. Bizarrely though the wine was already on the table before we arrived but unopened. No-one came to open it so I had to call over another waiter to sort that out.

A bowl of bread was on the table but oddly a small ramekin of balsamic vinegar and oil was also there. I gave it a miss but obviously as my partner tried to get both the oil and vinegar onto his bread, however much you mixed, the bread soaks up the oil which was sat on top. Odd.

The starters arrived quite quickly. My partner ordered Carpaccio of Beef which looked fine if lacking in style and I ordered mixed seafood dressed with lemon, garlic and olive oil. Perhaps naively I expected the seafood to be cooked to order. It wasn’t, the seafood was served cold in a slick of olive oil. I couldn’t taste any garlic or lemon and the olive oil wasn’t even a good one, not green and peppery but, well, just greasy.

Ok – a bit disappointing so far. When the waitress took our plates away, I asked her for another napkin as my hands were greasy from the starter.

After a while the main courses arrived but no napkin. A minor annoyance as I just stole one from another table but not good service.

For our main courses, my partner chose Seafood risotto and I chose chargrilled tuna (with a dressing) and seasonal vegetables.

The risotto arrived and, although not unpleasant, the flavour was paella, not risotto. There was no parmesan in the risotto and bizarrely tomato and it tasted like it had been made with an inferior stock. (If you know your risottos, you’ll know a good stock is the most important thing.)

The tuna came with no dressing, which, after the starter I was quite relieved about. I was warned when ordering that they cook their tuna “medium” as it’s better that way. I firmly agree but was disappointed when it arrived well done.

Anyway, I mentioned some of this to the waitress but I never believe in going over the top in the restaurant, especially as the waitress didn’t really seem to understand food.

After asking for the bill, I noticed a charge for 9 x £1 for the bar. I queried this and was told that the 500ml bottles of Budvar were £4.50 each. I know this sounds petty but my mental arithmetic isn’t so bad that I didn’t notice that this works out as being more expensive than the 330ml bottles on a volume basis. She went away and corrected it to £3.50 a bottle. I get the feeling they hadn’t decided on a price and so placed a damp finger in the air for what they thought I’d pay.

We left (after finding our coats which they’d lost) and went home fairly early. At about 3 in the morning, I woke up feeling queasy. I raced to the toilet and was sick.

I realise that it’s not always the last thing you ate which can cause you food poisoning but when you only have symptoms of nausea and vomiting, the causative agent can be fast acting (e.g. toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureas or Bacillus cereus). It also makes me incredibly suspicious that the likely food that made me ill was the mixed seafood. The fact that it was served cold meant it wasn’t cooked to order. I wish I’d thought of this before ordering but seafood is expensive. You should only really keep it for one day maximum. How is that viable to have a dish like that for a restaurant with such an enormous menu? It blatantly isn’t viable so they must be keeping the shellfish longer than they should.

Anyway, after a day of vomiting, stomach cramps, nausea, I’m now fine but be assured I have reported them to York Council.

If you are ever in York and would like to go out for a meal, give this place a wide berth and go to the Blue Bicycle on Walmgate. A short menu of excellent (mainly fish) dishes, excellent specials, fabulous service and great puddings. I wouldn’t recommend Delrio’s to anyone. From reading other online reviews afterwards, it seems that their menu went downhill a year or two ago so I won’t go and belt all my friends who recommended it just yet.

All in all we had 2 beers, 1 bottle of wine, 1 seafood starter, 1 Carpaccio of beef, 1 seafood risotto, 1 tuna steak and 1 food poisoning for £65.

They didn’t get a tip.

Summary: