A weekend of gluttony

Another visitor, yet another excuse for gorging myself silly. So, to start proceedings sis and I decided on a visit to Aqua in Clifton for a spot of luncheon. I always consider sitting down for a proper meal at lunch as rather decadent but they have an offer of two courses for £10 which wasn’t going to break the bank. I ordered the duo of bruschetta to begin, one piece was topped with the classic combination of tomato, garlic and basil and the second with a more unusual white bean concoction, very tasty indeed. And to follow, salmon fillet served with salsa verde and roasted tomatoes. A good sized piece of salmon, the skin was crisped perfectly, my only very slight niggle if i’m being fussy was that i’d have liked a little more of the salsa verde. Sis chose the vegetable soup to start which had a generous shaving of parmesan on the top and she thoroughly enjoyed it. This was followed by a pork chop with savoy cabbage, pancetta and cranberries. Again the size of the chop was generous, so much so that sis begrudgingly had to admit defeat with it. Overall, the food at Aqua is simple yet effective. And with a deal of 241 on bellinis we decided to indulge ourselves, opting for a version that had Chambord and raspberry puree; lovely to look at and even lovelier to sup! I reckon I could get used to the lifestyle of being a lady that lunches, especially at these prices.

http://aqua-restaurant.com/

And to continuing the Italian theme for the weekend…

Piccolino’s

Situated in Cabot Circus and being part of a chain, the snob in me must admit that I had some initial reservations. But having heard some good reports about the place since it opened, and after much careful perusing of the menu we thought we’d give it a whirl. Well, it certainly must be doing something right as the place was packed. My starter of chicken livers with marsala and pine nuts on bruschetta was a promising start to the meal and suitably wet my appetite for the main event. But alas, my happiness was shortlived. Having not been particularly in the mood for the standard fare of pizza, pasta or risotto I chose kebabs of salmon, scallop and king prawn with a chilli, lemon and herb marinade. The fish was overcooked; the prawn in particular was rather chewy and bland and I couldn’t taste any hint of heat in the seasoning. Very disappointing indeed, especially with its hefty £16.50 price tag (which didn’t include any side dishes). However I must add that sis had another fish dish and thoroughly enjoyed it; cod fillet with chorizo, a well cooked piece of fish that benefited from the paprika punch of the sausage.

Our waitress was just a little too attentive towards the end of the meal, asking us every thirty seconds if we’d decided on dessert. I’m not a huge fan of Italian desserts generally, especially tiramisu, which seems to be the staple on every Italian menu. But sis finally talked me into sharing some chocolate truffles filled with hazelnut liquer (ok, it didn’t take too much persuasion). The chocolate was nice and rich but I couldn’t detect any of the hazelnut flavour, which was a pity. Another slightly odd aspect of the evening was that they dimmed the lights, I guess to create the right atmosphere, but then abruptly turned them up before the end of our meal, which reminded me of chucking out time at a club. Having said all this, I do think Piccolino’s has its place in the Bristol dining scene and I think I would return, although next time i’ll be going for a safer bet of pizza or pasta.

The total damage for two courses, one side dish, truffles to share and a bottle of wine was £66.

http://www.piccolinorestaurants.co.uk/Bristol.html