Santoré

Our family has visited this restaurant a few times, and we recently returned again to celebrate a family occasion at this lively spot. As before, the portions were generous, and the dishes still offer good value for money, which remains one of the restaurant’s strongest points. On this recent visit, however, we felt that some of the food was not quite as exciting as on previous occasions: The baked aubergine had a rich tomato sauce, but the basil aroma was not very noticeable. The Americana pizza was still enjoyable in taste, though the crust was softer than expected and lacked crispness. The seafood casserole included a good variety of prawns, mussels, clams, and sea bass, but the sauce felt a little too mild and less distinctive in flavour. The calamari, however, remained very good—light, crisp batter with tender squid inside. Overall, while the restaurant still offers solid value and generous portions, this visit felt a little less memorable in terms of flavour. We look forward to returning again on our next visit.

The restaurant is situated on the pedestrian walk in Exmouth Market, not hard to find. The restaurant is very nice not over crowded which is ideal for a nice lunch. The restaurant is clean, tidy and you don't feel cramped in your chair. They can accomodate smaller groups but you will need to call ahead for arragements. The staff and service is very good. The food is tasty and their drink menu is generous. The coffee is very good. Good place for lunch with friends, family, dates or eating alone.

Santoré is the kind of Italian restaurant you almost don’t want to shout about — because once word really gets out, you’ll never get a table again. The decor is low-key and unfussy: warm tiles, simple wooden tables, shelves lined with wine bottles, and that comforting hum of conversation bouncing off the walls. Nothing flashy, nothing staged — just a proper trattoria feel. The place was absolutely packed, and not with tourists. Italians everywhere. Italian diners, Italian staff, rapid-fire Italian flying across the room. Always a good sign. I went with an Italian friend and made the only sensible decision: I didn’t even open the menu. I just told her to order. What followed was pure gluten bliss. The pizza is the real deal — beautifully blistered crust, light but structured, the kind of dough that’s clearly been treated with patience and respect. And yes, they do pizza by the meter, which feels both gloriously excessive and completely necessary once you taste it. Toppings were simple, high-quality, and perfectly balanced. No overloading, no gimmicks — just authentic flavour. Everything we had felt generous and honest. Great ingredients, confident cooking, zero pretension. Santoré doesn’t try to impress you — it just quietly delivers, and delivers exceptionally well. If you want proper Italian pizza, surrounded by people who clearly know what proper Italian pizza is supposed to taste like, this is your place. I’ll be back — hungry.

This is a wonderful Italian restaurant that preserves the traditions of some of my favourite Italian eateries of days gone by - Vitello d'oro, Topo Gigio, The Florence on Villiers Street.... Hearty Italian food, large plates and excellent service in a happy friendly atmosphere. I ate the largest piece of veal I've ever seen served with Spaghetti Pomodoro, my two companions had a Tuna Salad and the Merluzzo respectively. As you'll see from the photos, my first thoughts were to tuck in before I remembered to get the camera out!! More than simply eating...

Underrated Italian spot on exmouth market!!! Outside has always been fairly quiet but was craving a good pizza so decided to give a go. Good prices and pizza was delicious. Would highly recommend, especially since all the other outside seating areas tend to be fully packed!! Very diverse menu too.

The Italian dishes were on point - lasagne al forno, calzone, margarita pizza, spaghetti vongole, and Moretti beer rounded out a fantastic meal. Everything was delicious, with fresh flavors and generous portions.

While the food here is genuinely good, the customer service and the owner's attitude completely ruined our experience. Three of us were seated at a table for four outside. Shortly after we ordered, my boyfriend and his friend surprised me and asked to join us. We only needed to pull up one extra chair. Despite there being multiple empty tables immediately around us (an empty table for two beside us, a table for six behind us, and another table for two next to that within our immediate vicinity), the restaurant flat out refused to accommodate us even when we said we can all sit inside which had many free tables. They claimed it would be rude to the five people waiting in the queue, even though we only needed one extra chair added to our table and there was plenty of space. Since they weren't allowed to join, my boyfriend and his friend left and ended up having a great meal at a fantastic tapas bar down the street. After they had gone elsewhere to eat, I summoned the courage to mention to the owner that the refusal felt a bit rude, as I would have liked to enjoy a meal with my boyfriend and his friend. Instead of a professional response, he proceeded to berate me right there in the restaurant. Because we had already ordered, we stayed out of basic politeness and respect for the kitchen staff, but the atmosphere was incredibly uncomfortable. As someone who worked in the industry, I know that unexpected things happen, but actual hospitality means trying to work with your guests. To make matters worse, later on when the queue was completely empty, the owner came over and physically moved the empty table next to us away, which felt incredibly petty and pointed. Good food cannot make up for a complete lack of respect for customers or an uncompromising unpragmatic manner. Given the owner's history of lashing out at other negative reviews, I wouldn't be surprised if this receives a defensive reply, which will only prove my point about his attitude.

Extremely rude manager. The first time we went there we felt the wait staff and manager were being quite rude. However, we were in the area and decided to give it another shot. The manager was very rude again, acted very arrogant and did not speak politely. I’m not sure if he was being racist or this is the service they give to everyone. I usually don’t like writing negative reviews as people can have bad days and may not reflect their usual behaviour but this is twice in a row we faced a similar experience with this person which really had a negative impact on our experience. Especially avoid if you are celebrating a special occasion as they can ruin it with their rude behaviour. Edit to reply - we were not offered 3 tables as mentioned - we were just offered one table right in the corner which was not suitable for us. It was 7pm on Sunday and they had 2 other tables wide open which could easily be separated. We did try to talk to the manager or head waiter maybe and he brushed us aside and walked past us without even acknowledging us or telling us to wait. The staff never told us to wait else we would definitely have waited - they just looked at us helplessly like they didn’t know what to tell us. You can see from the way the reply is drafted too with no apology or regard for the way they made us feel - that is exactly the service you will get at this restaurant.