Cafe Lilli

Visited Café Lilli on the Friday luchtime before Christmas. The staff are friendly and service is good and the food we had was great. We arrived for our staff Christmas Dinner and had a table by the door. We were unsure what was available to eat. There were items listed on the wall but turned out to be sandwiches! The lunchtime menu was a single slightly stained piece of A4 paper. The statrters were Ok but the main courses weren’t what we were hoping for! I had the mackerel starter which was very good. We asked if they did steaks and they said they did! The steak I had was excellent. We had a dessert of crème brûlée which was good. We had plenty to eat and drink and for 4 of us it was £200 but that included 9 peronis and two bottles of wine. I would certainly go again but I wish they would improve the menu! So we knew what was available!

I have eaten here a few times and always here people saying how good it is. Yes it is good for Norton however the menu is small and hardly ever changes, it is also quite expensive for the North East, the prices are more based on Yarm than Norton.
There are normally about 5 starters and 6 main courses to choose from.
I don’t really know anywhere better in the North East but that is not saying much.

Really good food, excellent atmosphere, mostly superb service and nice rustic French inspired décor, but does have a few faults.
1. No bookings after 6pm — so its a turn up and see, sometimes we have waited over an hour and a half
2.The wait wouldnt be so bad if there was somewhere to wait — one small settee by front door but usually there are a good 10 to 15 people waiting in the door way.
3.The bar area seems to have the same people at it most of the night, suggesting people come here for a drink but no food, this is at the expense of the customers waiting for tables.
I think its more of a chefs trendy thing to do but it seems that the menu comprises of mainly cheap cuts — still nice food but skirt of beef etc shouldnt cost over £15
I think if you turn up the bar if full and a table is going to be a long wait you should at least be able to reserve a time and be able to go for a drink somewhere where you can at least sit down and then return for your table instead of being me to stand around in the door way for over and hour

Fantastic find. A must for lovers of good wine and good food. Service excellent and prices to match. Great atmosphere with people from all walks of life.
The wine list from Roberto is a dream– he know about every single one. Menu is great with daily specials. Staff are very polite and work very hard but seem to love evry minute of it.
What a formula the owners Roberto and Darl have. One of them is always on the floor and guess what– its the best restaurant in the North East– that is fact.
Go on go and give it a try– you will be very sorry if you dont!!!

I have visited Café Lilli twice now, the first time for an evening meal with my husband and the second for lunch with a large group of female friends.
When my husband and I had dinner there I thought that my meal of pasta in a pesto and pice nut sauce was absolutely delicious, although to be fair the portion size wasn’t quite big enough for me! My husband was not impressed with his meal at all; he had pasta in a salmon sauce and he didn’t like it! He’s not a big fish man really but in his opinion this seemed to be the least fussy meal on the menu! I’ve always tried to persuade him to return but he always finds an escuse! The second time I visited I had the same meal again, which was again delicious, and just the right size for a lunch. I followed this up with a delicious pudding of pannacotta which was one of the nicest I’ve had anywhere.
I would really recommend Café Lilli myself; I thought that the menu was reasonably priced, the service was great and the wine list extensive.