Yahoo News 'Exquisite' Surrey restaurant that has best ambience and value with incredible OpenTable reviews
Pianillo has a string of glowing reviews after opening in Chertsey back in April 2024. The restaurant brings a luxury dining experience at an affordable price, and has been hailed one of Surrey's best on OpenTable.
It's a hotspot for having a great ambience and food, and listed as one of Surrey's best restaurants via the booking website. Customers have praised the restaurant for being "exquisite" and boasted about the fabulous roast dinners at the Italian eatery.
One wrote via OpenTable: "I never imagined such an exquisite restaurant would exist in Chertsey. It is beautifully decorated with the utmost attention to detail. I had the lamb Sunday roast which was really well-presented using quality ingredients. I would definitely come back again but save it for special occasion dining."
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Another wrote: "I visited the restaurant for the first time with my wife, 8pm on a Friday. The restaurant was quite busy. There was a live singer which gave a nice atmosphere, although it could be too loud for some people, we quite enjoyed it.
"The service and food were very enjoyable and we were talking about when we would come back next. Three courses each, a side of garlic bread and a bottle of wine for £135 inc service. Would thoroughly recommend."
The owners of the restaurant wanted to bring something unique to the town, having been in hospitality for more than 20 years. Christian Chaoul said: "After we took over we changed the interior design, bars, toilets and chose hand painted art work from Italy and changed the menu as well. We brought high end touches and Mayfair vibe with an affordable menu."
Christian added: "We do this out of passion, love and excitement. We wanted to bring something unique to Chertsey. Customers love the food quality and how the restaurant looks. It’s so rewarding we put a lot of work into our dishes and menu and we have a new menu."
Dishes are homemade on site, and Christian says the team carefully choose their suppliers for fresh produce. From pasta sauces to dessert, it's all fresh, Christian added: "We have an amazing Italian head chef, we cook like we are cooking at home."
Christian said the new budget might not help business, but the team still want to give back something to the community. He said: "The current financial situation is not helping business at all, zero hour contracts are very efficient for students. We hire as local as possible and we have [deals like] children eat for a pound on a Monday."
Some of the restaurant's best dishes according to Christian include bruschetta and the white bait starters. For mains, Christian recommends the truffle pizza and the black seafood linguine and dessert the lemon cheesecake and tiramisu are a must.
On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, live singers perform at the restaurant, with tribute music featuring Elton John and Frank Sinatra. The menu features classic dishes like pizzas, steaks, pastas, risotto plus roasts on Sundays.
Pizza options include the Romana with tomato, mozzarella, bacon, honey roasted ham and pepperoni and Toscana with tomato, mozzarella, red onion, steak, blue cheese, fresh chilli and cherry tomato. Pasta dishes include the Rigatoni Floriana with chicken, mushroom, leeks and mascarpone in creamy sauce and the Lasagne al Forno which is oven baked layers of pasta with mince beef, spinach and tomato sauce.
The restaurant also has a range of quenching drinks, starting at just £5 for a glass of prosecco. The drinks list also features mojitos, margaritas and pina coladas.
The restaurant is soon to introduce a new menu for the Christmas season. From November 18 to December 30, diners can enjoy three courses for £39.95. To book a table at Pianillo, you can find a link to OpenTable by clicking here.
