La Trattoria

Buzzing atmosphere, accommodating, fantastic food and incredibly well priced. Would love to have this place as my local pizzeria!

Booked an evening meal at the La Trattoria Bistro and Pizzeria Italian Restaurant Helmsley for my Husbands Birthday and can honestly say it was the worst Italian Meal I have ever eaten. Upon arrival we were quickly shown to our table and asked what we would like to drink before we had even sat down. Starters arrived 2mins after ordering – Tomato + Mozzarella Arancini – tasted bland and drowned in an overpowering tomato sauce. Plates removed as soon as finished and replaced with our mains 5mins later. Husband had Seafood Bucatini – Oh dear! I suppose the clue was in the description…. ‘King Prawn’ which at first he had trouble finding, Yes it was there just the 1! 2 Mussels (1 in a broken shell) and a couple of other seafood items that he wasn’t sure what they were as they didn’t taste of anything, were chewy and tasteless covered with a bland Tomato Sauce. I opted for the Seabream Fillet with Cherry Tomatoes, Anchovies Capers and Chilli – Another disaster! Whilst the fillet of Seabream looked Ok it was drowned in the Tomato sauce which was the saltiest I have ever tasted making the dish inedible. The waitress asked if everything was ok with the meal and I informed her that it was not good. She did apologise and went to the Bar and told the Waiter/ Chef ? who wasn’t happy , we could hear him talking about us and saying “that’s what we ordered…what did we expect”? Well….I know that Anchovies and Capers are salty but I expected the sauce to compliment the Seabream – not overwhelm it! On the La Trattoria website it says “ Customers can expect the Finest Ingredients, Authentic Recipes and a warm Welcome, with all dishes freshly prepared by a passionate team of experienced chefs” Very Questionable- I don’t believe the food was freshly prepared -and definitely not by a Chef- it arrived too quickly, it tasted like something you would expect from a works canteen and definitely not worth our bill of over £100 (with Wine). We definitely won’t be returning here – there are much better Eateries in Helmsley to visit- it’s such a shame because they have Prime Position in the Village square and it could be lovely- but they really do need to change attitudes and employ a reputable Chef who takes pride in his food.

Hate to leave negative feedback, but feel it could be helpful and easily resolved- food was good, although meatballs were chopped up and not actual balls but tasted nice enough. However service was awful, not remotely the girls fault (3 staff to serve a bar, upstairs and downstairs) but owner could improve staff levels. We had our plates taken away and then sat 25 minutes waiting to be offered a desert menu, we gave up and just left. We were hoping to go for breakfast the following day before our long journey back home- however decided against it after the poor service.

Wow! I had a lovely meal here last night, in Helmsley. The kitchen is obviously run by someone who's expert ... my fillet of seabass was perfectly cooked and delicious and the toasted home-made bread with my pate starter was super-tasty, in fact, I couldn't fault anything. Staff are lovely too, supplying lots of delicious-looking food to the diners upstairs and down. I can recommend this place for a really enjoyable evening.

Open for breakfast. The sunshine special was really nice, fresh local ingredients. Coffee was good too. Two young ladies on service were excellent, friendly & attentive without being over bearing. Definitely recommend.