Review Villa Cornelia Restaurant - London

First time I have been to Villa Cornelia. Such an incredibly beautiful house. Inside it is furnished elegantly with sophisticated with background dinner music. My friend had the Roasted Vegetable Salad. I had the exquisite Charcueterie Board which was a huge offering with fine Brie, smoked meats, delicious chicken pate, pickled onions & carrots etc. We both had the steak for our main, which was plated nicely and came with a most unusual yet enticing baked potato square and Toasted Brussel Sprouts with bacon. It was quite lovely. For dessert we both had the French Tartlett with homemade ice cream. It did not disappoint.

Brought my mom here for a birthday celebration. The food and experience was exquisite. Mom had the salmon and I had the braised chicken. Beautiful atmosphere the chef and staff were absolutely wonderful. I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Expertly crafted dishes, except the French Onion soup. The French onion soup lack the broiled cheese on top, and soup is watery without the rich, savory taste one expects. Overall as the first dish it was uninviting and uninspiring. The whole construction of the soup is difficult to understand, and I could not see why a fine dining restaurant would serve a seemingly substandard French onion soup (see photo). It was a pity because otherwise this would be very deserving of a 5 star review. Otherwise other dishes were impressively done. The seafood risotto was excellent, done just right al dente. The seafood was fresh, especially the scallops, which were seared perfectly with a tender inner surface. The beef tenderloin was perfectly medium rare, juicy, and rich. Flavour was exquisite and one bite invites the next. The in house made sorbet was delicious, rich, tangy. The flavour was creative, not overly sweetened and authentic. It was very refreshing to enjoy in house crafted sorbet rather than usual factory made ones usually served at lower end restaurants. Overall the majority of the dishes were crafted with care and demonstrated the chef's expert craftsmanship. The venue is intimate and service was appreciated. Would recommend to visitors and locals alike.

My friends and I just went here for high tea and it was incredible! The food was amazing and it was clear that they took great care in everything. The staff were attentive but not pushy. What a great outing, I will definitely be back and recommending it to others.

First time here, but definitely won’t be the last. As soon as you enter, Sandra at the front desk is very warm and welcoming. Service is definitely top notch. Can’t say enough about the food — Philippe is an amazing chef and the love and passion that he has for cooking definitely comes through in all his dishes. Appetizers, main course and desert were all right up there with the best we’ve had. Lots of variety on the drink menu as well. Overall, definitely a hidden gem that everyone should make an effort to check out.

Nice spot for high tea. Lots of tea options and good service. Would definitely come again :)

We came here for a birthday celebration. Barbara was amazing and very efficient. The food is exquisite, beautifully presented. The drinks were also 10/10. Highly recommended ❤️

We went to Villa Cornelia for a 70th birthday meal for our cousin from London. We loved it. Ryan, the chef, also waited on our table and recommended a really nice Chianti (which we hadn’t had for years) and we had specials - steak, pasta and fish. All excellent - perfectly cooked, not too much. We’ll be back!

Had the pleasure to dine here with my family. The atmosphere was welcoming with a beautiful Victorian style interior. Subtle music playing in the background that set the mood perfectly. The service was exceptional, our server (Sandra) was very professional and friendly. Chef Philippe cooked our meals to perfection and we had the honor to talk about out food experiences with Philippe at the end of the meal. Would highly recommend this restaurant if you appreciate a quiet atmosphere, excellent food and excellent service. Definitely one of the top fine dining restaurants in London Ontario to visit.

I went on a date with my boyfriend to Villa Cornelia this week. They have a new seasonal menu with lots of seafood and fish options. We had Caesar salad and warm octopus salad for an appetizer. Both were great, the octopus was excellently cooked and was perfectly soft. For the main course I had the bass with smoked carrot puree and mashed potato which I enjoyed a lot. I was thoroughly impressed by smoked carrot puree - it added a peculiar note to the dish and lifted the flavour of the dish 👌. The bass had a crispy top and tasted fantastic in conbination with tender creamy white wine sauce. My Boyfriend had chicken supreme with coffee sauce, crispy garlic spinach, shiitake mushroom, bacon and mashed potato, all tasted amazing. The crispy spinach is just out of this world! The server was very polite and attentive, she did a great job making sure we were enjoying the dinner. I liked the atmosphere in the restaurant too. The vintage interior feels very cozy.

Excellent service and wonderful food. Will absolutely be stopping by again. They even have a photo booth upstairs.

This is an incredible, hidden Gem in London. We were fortunate enough to find it almost 6 months ago and have loved every visit (at least once a month) since then. The atmosphere is cosy and takes you back into a different era that is so comforting. The food, amazing. They recently updated their menu for the summer and trust me, it did not disappoint. They have a great selection of wines to pair well with your meal. The service, fantastic. Sandra always makes our visit comfortable and offers insightful recommendations; she is one of the reasons we love this restaurant so much. We always look forward to our next visit to Villa Cornelia and will be coming back for a long time.

It was our anniversary dinner, the waiter and another employee made us feel special and wished us a happy anniversary. It was very sweet. I had the open faced ravioli as the starter, with the halibut as an entree. It was phenomenal. So much flavour and the server was very attentive. We would definitely come back again.

Highly recommend! Great atmosphere and delicious food.

If your looking for fine dining, great food, at a reasonable price for the quality, this is the place to go,the food here is absolutely amazing, my hats off to the chef, does a fantastic job, so good, service is excellent, very polite, professional and welcoming. Will definitely be back again.

A bit on the pricier side but great ambience, music, and service! Food was okay, but I like food more spicy so that’s just me. Had the calamari appetizer and medallion, which were both flavoured decently. I also tried some my friend’s trout dish and it was completely flavourless in my opinion. Overall, I think the price is too high to justify the taste of the food, but not a bad experience.

Hi everyone! My wife, daughter and I went to Villa Cornelia to celebrate our five year anniversary. It was amazing. The atmosphere, food and service was incredible! It was a perfect dining experience in the heart of London. Can not wait to go back. Highly recommend.

We went to an afternoon tea at Villa Cornelia on September 7th and were extremely happy with it!! The Villa is the perfect place for a tea with its' beautiful architecture and furnishings. <br/><br/>The tea menu was extensive and I selected the hot cinnamon spice-my husband had the earl grey and both were perfect! I will try another tea the next time we go.<br/><br/>We each had our own teapot and the designs were different . The settings were beautiful too.<br/><br/>We started with delicious scones with clotted cream and preserves. All homemade!!!!!<br/><br/>The sweets and savories were delicious! We had egg salad sandwiches on homemade bread, quiche, pulled pork sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches as well as ham and cheese sandwiches.<br/><br/>The sweets were amazing!! Chocolate dipped strawberries, mini cheesecakes, mini carrot cakes topped with butter cream icing and sugared pecans, brownies and specialty cookies in the shapes of flowers, teapots etc!!! Everything was homemade.<br/><br/>The service was great. We were treated to a tour of the Villa and had our picture taken upstairs. <br/><br/>We heard that the afternoon teas will be about once a month and can be booked for groups as well. The menu may be slightly different for different teas, but I'm sure the food and tea will be delicious every time and look forward to trying more things!! <br/><br/>We will definitely be back and recommend it to everyone!

The food was amazing! We had soup, salad, a shared appetizer of shrimp, scallops and calamari (which we usually aren't fond of but this was wonderful). Ribs so tender that they fall off the bones. The beef tenderloin was Julia's suggestion when I couldn't decide and she was spot on! The music on the front porch for their welcome to summer patio event was an added bonus. The music inside was also very nice, not too loud and suited the ambience. The staff was attentive and friendly and we had a wonderful time. We like to try out different places for fine dining and this is defiantly a go back to place! The glass of port for our special evening was also a very nice close out to our meal. Thank you for making out 25th so special

A last minute booking for a business/corporate dinner on a Saturday evening. It was the perfect restaurant to accommodate our international guests. The service was excellent and the food amazing. The staff were very friendly, knowledgeable and excellent to work with. Chef Ryan took very good care of us - we will be back!! A gem tucked away in old north!

I came here for a friend’s birthday on, I believe, a Thursday night. We were the only people in the restaurant which was kind of nice. The old house is neat and the photos upstairs were fun. The mesh of everything was somewhat strange but we still had fun. The food I did not care for. Not being a big meat eater I ordered the squash soup and salad with pears and a honey mustard vinaigrette. The salad was soaked with dressing and the soup had hardly any flavour at all. I was really disappointed. My one friend had the lamb which was really undercooked but my friend that had the beef dish enjoyed hers. Can’t say I’d go back.

Let me begin by saying that as of August First, 2017 the Villa Cornelia is open with new owners and readers might disregard any comments before that date. My wife and I were visiting London Ontario and as a disclaimer, the house belonged to my aunt and uncle until 1986. We were greeted graciously, attended to attentively, fed almost extravagantly, this is not a microbrewery or German Restaurant, it is fine dining with a Canadian cuisine that uses locally sourced produce, bread, meats and fish. The building is an authentic 1892 Victorian town house appointed for entertaining. The owners have restored to the period.<br/><br/>After a cocktail on the patio, an appetizer of gnocchi with bay scallop and shrimp, we were seated inside for dinner. I chose the Sous Vide Pork Ribs on goat cheese garlic mashed potato, honey carrot with cumin and pumpkin seed. My wife had the wilted spinach and goat cheese stuffed chicken breast served on garlic mashed with a duo of carrot and asparagus. Both were superb. For dessert, we had the blueberry sorbet, freshly made with an abundance of extra blueberries. The Villa Cornelia is modestly priced for the quality and service. The wine and beer selections are complete with something for each entree. The bar is well managed and stocked with some local rye, vodka and a selection of good whiskeys. <br/><br/> I would highly recommend you try it and see if you share my sentiment.

One of the worst restaurants I've been to in this world. Food is disgusting, service is suspiciously weird. Dirty, old and stuffy space. Food, is, disgusting. Avoid avoid avoid.

Hidden Gem!!!. My wife and I were tired of the same old food chain restaurants so we decided to try something new. This is when we stumbled upon a quaint little restaurant we never heard of in the heart of downtown and were glad that we did! My wife ordered the steak dienne which looked fantastic and she enjoyed it very much. I ordered the half rack of lamb which was delicious. Both meals were very reasonably priced especially for such generous portions. The service was great as well, and we will definitely be back.

We went for an anniversary dinner during Londonliious. A limited menu was available which is standard for Londonlicious. My meal was salmon. It was placed on a questionable sauce. It was brown but supposed to be a dill cream sauce. My husband enjoyed his meal. The service was great, but there was only one other table she had to serve.