FOOD&DRINK

We journalists rarely get bank holidays off, so it was only when we went out for dinner and found one eatery after another closed that I realised 3 Jan was not a normal Monday. Carluccio’s get full marks, therefore, for the welcoming glow they (and neighbours Brasserie Blanc) cast over the Quakers Friars piazza. It was quiet inside, of course, but the candlelit retro-café ambience felt comfortable and the menu beckoned. Once a warming bottle of crisp Sicilian Nero D’Avola was opened, we were more than happy to be out of the sleety cold. Both my companion and I had good past experiences of Carluccio’s and the brimming bowl of pasta e fagioli soup with chunky bread and a wide plate of insalata nicoise both promised hearty starting. Her soup went down a treat, it seemed, making up for the chilly journey with a full-flavoured glow, and the nicely dressed and balanced salad seemed similarly happy at first until it became clear the firm halves of new potato were more than firm, being undercooked. I mentioned this to the waiter and, nicely, the manager came over shortly and apologised. With the main courses the situation reversed, however. My osso bucco alla milanese was just great – a proper slice of veal shin simmered to tenderness with a delicious medallion of bone marrow still in place under a lightly flavoured tomato sauce for the accompanying saffron risotto to stickily scavenge. Her gnocchi gorgonzo, however, proved a trial, the little potato pellets as chewy as uncooked pastry and the cream sauce only just hinting at the promised gorgonzola and spinach. A generous lemon tart pudding helped fill the hole left by the abandoned gnocchi but, at just under £60 (with wine), it couldn’t quite repair the goodwill. (Tony Benjamin)

CARLUCCIO’S QUAKERS FRIARS, BRISTOL, BS1 3BU. TEL: 0117 933 8538, WEB: WWW.CARLUCCIOS.COM

VENUE VERDICT

GOOD COOKING LET DOWN BY LACK OF ATTENTION TO THE BASICS

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011