Star Rating

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La Ruga  

59 Orford Road

Walthamstow 

E17 9NJ   Map
Tel 020 8520 5008
Web site

Posted 13th September 2011
S

We booked La Ruga for New Years Eve with a couple of friends. As usual the food was great, the atmosphere wonderful and a great time was had by all, we left at about 1.30am.
So a big thank you to Debbie, Ricardo, Salvo, Nickie and of course all the rest of the kitchen staff for making it such a great evening.

Posted 8th January 2010
Sharon

A taste of Italy on your doorstep? La Ruga is a small, warm and friendly restaurant in the heart of Walthamstow Village with a relaxed and comfortable ambience. It has an attractive forecourt eating area which is underused due to the E17 climate. La Ruga is bit more up market and is not a pizzeria so expect to spend a little more. The menu is small and changes on a regular basis which is good as this suggests the use of seasonal produce.
The strange thing about Trattatoria La Ruga is that the menu has to be read from a chalkboard. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if you could read Italian. Most of us have to rely on tediously interrogating the waiter. ''What was the first starter again?'' ''What sauce did you say came with the lamb?''
I think this is a bit silly, pretentious and unnecessary, but for the time being we’ll call it a quirk. The staff are very patient, helpful and used to this, so don’t be shy.
The food is freshly cooked and therefore takes a little time to prepare. Is it worth waiting for ? Well, the main courses (meat and fish etc.) have always been fairly well cooked and tasty, vegetables are served as part of the main course and as no choice is offered this generally means roasted potatoes, green beans and spinach, The quality of the veg varies and on the last visit potatoes seemed warmed up, beans squeaky and the spinach a bit similar to what mother used to ruin on Sunday afternoons. No bones about it, La Ruga is expensive for the area and I personally would expect more care and consistancy.
The wine is good quality but expensive, starting from around £16. A word of warning, the house wines, at £18, are not the cheapest on the on the list. Starters are £7 to £9, main courses a little under £20 and sweets around £6. La Ruga has recently begun a Saturday and Sunday lunch offer of two courses for £12. Maybe this could be an opportunity to sample the food without too much wallet pain.

Editor
September 2008