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Visited Punchinello's for the first time last Thursday evening with a group of friends. On a night when the rest of Nottingham seemed very busy, this place was not. The most interesting starter wasn't available so we opted for a main course and a dessert. I asked if we could order some wine as we hadn't been invited to. The wine arrived and was abandoned on the table - it wasn't shown to us and we weren't asked if we'd like to try it. The main courses arrived after a long wait and were all good but, we felt, over-priced. Next we looked at the dessert menu and were told that the icecream flavours quoted weren't available and were offered two alternatives. We made our choices and waited again. By now we had run out of drinks but the waiting staff didn't notice and we had past caring. By now the restaurant was completely empty yet our desserts showed no signs of arriving. Eventually I asked if they would be much longer only to be told that one of the components of the trio of chocolate desserts that two of us had ordered wasn't available either. We made do with extra of what was available. When they did arrive my peach tart tatin very nearly ended up in my lap and the chocolate fondue tasted burnt and was reminiscent of cigarette ash. I called the waiter over and he removed the offening plate with a 'sorry'. He came back and offered a replacement but by this time we had been in the restaurant in excess of two hours and wanted to leave so we declined. Before we left I had a quiet word with the waiter, saying it was my first visit and I wasn't impressed either with the service or the number of unavailable items on the menu. Once again 'sorry' was all he could manage. I do feel we are very lucky in Nottingham with a fine array of excellent restaurants to choose from. This is why I certainly won't be returning to Punchinello's.

We've been to Punchinello's on several occasions when going to the theatre, so it was a nice additional bonus to get the Gourmet Society discount on our last visit! Meals are always to a good standard, well presented withgood service, & whilst the menu for pre-theatre meals is limited there should be sufficient variety for most tastes. Nice reasonably priced wines.