Service was great and the waiters were friendly. They always made sure my glass was full and were very attentive. The restaurant does have a nice ambience it just was very quiet especially for a Saturday night. Unfortunately the food did not really match the standard of its prices. My starter of baby octopus was over seasoned, food presentation was a tad boring and was served on cold plates. The executive chef was not present and I think that's why the food quality was slightly poor.

Real italian feast! And we were treated to a live in-house band for entertainment too. Their risottos are amazing and the mascarpone millefeuille to die for! Wine a bit too pricey though...

My parents in law live in a small town with little access to good restaurants so we always like to visit good restaurants when they come to Pretoria to visit. Their favorite is Italian. On Saturday we decided to try a new Italian place as opposed to the few really good ones we frequent. We visited Fumo based on a good Eat Out review. What an utter disappointment. The setting and décor are attractive and set the scene for a wonderful evening. We sat on the balcony under the full moon and ordered a really good wine. All boded well for a wonderful evening. However, the service and food that were to follow did not match up to our first impressions – nor the menu prices I must add either. After having to request our waiter for the daily specials, another waiter arrived to inform us that the specials for the day were pork cutlets and sea bass. He did not have a clue how they were prepared nor what they were served with. In a restaurant where the average price for a main course is about R180, this is not acceptable. When we asked questions about the specials, he appeared to make things up suggesting that we could order ‘any kind of sauce for the pork – including cheese sauce or lemon butter’! How absolutely unappetizing. None of us decided to take the specials of course. My father in law then asked a question about the scallops and ceviche starter which he was excited to order. He wanted to know if there could be a slight modification made to the dish. The waiter did not know and went to the kitchen to ask. When he returned he said that the ceviche was actually just a sauce – which confused us all, but nonetheless, my father-in-law ordered it. About 10 minutes later, the waiter returned to say that actually, they did not have that dish available for the night. Irritated and disappointed, my father in law ended up foregoing a starter. When the rest of the table’s starters arrived – mussels and avocado carpaccios - they were acceptable but not amazing. For mains my steak was ok but there was hardly any green peppercorn sauce on the steak as per the menu. I could not complain however. The rest of the family ordered the Italian fish stews, which sounded great on the menus. However, when they arrived they were shameful and most certainly NOT worth the R180 advertised. They contained one or two small pieces of fish and a few prawns but mostly just shells and unidentifiable things that could have been bits of crab shell. My parents in law had to request additional prawns and bread. None of them were satisfied with the food – quality nor quantity wise. As a result we asked for the bill and left. Needless to say, we did not stay to order deserts or anymore wine. For what my father in law paid in the end we could have had a fabulous meal at a few other Italian restaurants in the city. And that is what we will be doing in the future. I would definitely not recommend Fumo and we will most certainly not be returning. Rarely is the case where I feel motivated enough by a restaurant’s poor food or service to write a review. However, after this experience I must say that as customers we felt completely taken advantage of. Oh, and as a side note, for the duration of most of our meal, the restaurant manager was watching sport on TV.

BEST PLACE TO GO TO FOR PROPER ITALIAN FOOD ALL FRESH AND HOME MADE.

Amazing from start to finish....so good that we are going back for more tomorrow!!!!