Restaurant Reviews and Food Musings

Restaurant

Donatello
1 Brighton Place
The Lanes
Brighton

Phone:- 01273 775477

Website www.donatello.co.uk

Overview

Eva and I spent a couple of days in Brighton; and, feeling in the mood for Italian, dropped into Donatello one evening.

Ambience

Donatello is a large restaurant and offers; a smoking area, a non smoking area, a large bar, upstairs function rooms and outside seating for those that feel brave enough to face the uncertainty of the British weather.

The restaurant is bright and cheerful; some of the walls are painted red, others green and at the far end of the smoking area you can admire your reflection in the wall sized mirror. The stairway up to the function rooms is adorned with photos of celebrities, including Tony Blair, who have dined in the restaurant.

Menu

The menu offers a good range of Italian dishes including a variety of; pasta, pizzas, fish, steaks and veal.

Service

The service is very attentive, friendly and efficient. Although the restaurant is large, and was busy when we were there, there was a large enough complement of staff on duty to ensure that that customers’ needs were efficiently attended to.

Food

I started with the lasagne, which was rich and creamy. The sauce was a well balanced blend of tomatoes and cheese, which did not overpower the meat and spinach filled pasta.

I chose steak, in a green pepper sauce, for my main course. This was first class. The sirloin was cooked rare, as requested, and was exceptionally succulent and tender. The piquant sauce complemented the meat, and did not overpower it. The dish was served with a good sized portion of fries, carrots and courgettes. I was very happy with my choice.

Eva opted for pizza, and chose one with a topping that included; Chorizo, artichokes, prawns and peppers. It had been freshly prepared, and the dough had a light not “claggy” texture. She enjoyed it, but felt that it would have benefited from a more generous tomato and cheese base.

The total bill, which included; pre dinner drinks a bottle of Pinot Grigio, brandy and Irish coffee, came to £61 including service.

Overall Opinion

We enjoyed our meal, and will be pleased to visit again when we have the opportunity.