Excellent

Could always smell the wafts of food from this place when outside the George in the summer and was desparate to try the food. After a few attempts at booking (was always fully booked when I wanted to go) and relenting to having a 7pm booking which is a little early for me to have dinner usually, I eventually visited this restaurant on the second weekend of the year. The outside of the restaruant could do with a little face lift as could the inside. I don't think it's been decorated since it was opened back in 1979! Despite the dated decor, the restaurant was filled with a buzz and the atmosphere was something I hadn't experienced for a while which just made me want to get stuck into the menu and taste the delights of Italy! Myself and my guest were seated next to the window and directly in a draft! Luckily, we soon ordered a bottle of wine which took the chill off! The wine list was varying in price and tastes and the bottle we had was so delicious we were tempted to order another had we not had plans to move on from the restaurant later. We were served very promptly by tentative staff who could have also been working in this very restaurant just as long. They were genuinely from Italy too which is rare enough these days! The menu was typical Italian with mozarella, parma ham and tomatoes occurring regularly although with no pizza on the menu, I would say this was a cut above the usual restaurants I vist for an Italian i.e. those chains of Zizzi and the like. For starters I had the minestrone soup which was jam packed with fresh vegetables and the stock was boiling hot, no worries of this dish arriving cold. It was delicious and hearty and the portion was just the right size, no too much nor too little. My partner had the white bait which he said was delicious too. I then went on to have the pollo alla valdostana and my partner the vitello piemontese which were both served with vegetables of the day (beans, cauliflour cheese) and saute potatoes.My dish was delicious and I cannot fault it. My partner again had no complaints with his. Portion size was perfect and the dishes were produced using fresh ingredients and weren't sitting about waiting to be served to us either as both were piping hot and as they were described on the menu.Dessert was a selection of fruit salads, trifle, profiteroles, chocolate gateux but unfortunately no tiramisu! The profiteroles were smothered in a chocolate sauce but they seemed a bit bland and only tasted like the cream which filled each one rather than chocolatey. Also cream was added by the waiter without any hesitation to ask whether it was required. The chocolate gateux didn't seem to be freshly made either but was delicious all the same.Our meal was finished within two hours with the bill being a reasonable cost for what was had. We didn't feel rushed to leave at any point despite the fact that we were obviously going to be replaced with other customers later on in the evening.Overall I would visit again soon if I could get a reservation!!

A User - 01/01/2009 | report this review