Si Signore - Revisited

 

Yesterday Eva and I went back to Si Signore, a lovely Italian restaurant in central Brighton.

12 Sydney Street

Brighton, 

BN1 4EN 

01273 671 266

As per its website: 

Si Signore opened its doors on 18th April 2006. Situated in the North Laines in Brighton is the perfect place whether dining solo, on a date night, celebrating with your family or to experience home made Italian cuisine.

Get your meal started with a glass of Italian wine or cocktail and to follow try our homemade Bolognese, oven baked lasagne or signature dish, they will impress you at the first bite. Part of the experience of dining at Si Signore is trying our homemade tiramisu paired with a shot of Italian liquor or a great espresso.

If that’s not enough, our friendly staff always ready to help and welcome you and our décor and lovely atmosphere will let you feel relaxed and thrilled to come back

 GRAZIE MILLE!

This has become one of our favourite restaurants in Brighton; not only is the food excellent, but the welcome and service is genuinely warm and friendly. Regular customers are made to feel as though they are friends dining in someone's home.

We had a lovely evening.

It is without doubt well worth visiting, and we will most certainly be coming back in the not too distant future!

Si Signore - Brighton

 

On Friday Eva and I went to Si Signore, a lovely Italian restaurant in central Brighton, for the very first time.

12 Sydney Street

Brighton, 

BN1 4EN 

01273 671 266

As per its website: 

Si Signore opened its doors on 18th April 2006. Situated in the North Laines in Brighton is the perfect place whether dining solo, on a date night, celebrating with your family or to experience home made Italian cuisine.

Get your meal started with a glass of Italian wine or cocktail and to follow try our homemade Bolognese, oven baked lasagne or signature dish, they will impress you at the first bite. Part of the experience of dining at Si Signore is trying our homemade tiramisu paired with a shot of Italian liquor or a great espresso.

If that’s not enough, our friendly staff always ready to help and welcome you and our décor and lovely atmosphere will let you feel relaxed and thrilled to come back

 GRAZIE MILLE!

The menu has a great range of starters, pasta, pizzas, meat and fish dishes to choose from. 

Eva had the prawns then the crab ravioli, and I started with the meatballs followed by chicken in a mushroom and bacon cream sauce.

The atmosphere, food and professional friendly service were all first class!

I have no hesitation in recommending this restaurant, and we will most certainly be returning there in the very near future.

Casalingo - Valentine's Night

 

A very warm and friendly welcome awaits you at Casalingo, one of Brighton's best Italian restaurants.

Located at 29 Preston Street Brighton, Casalingo offers:

"a simple winning formula; fine, fresh ingredients (locally sourced wherever possible), truly authentic recipes, and a genuine taste of social dining, as only Italians know how!

No matter what the occasion, our unique combination of good food and relaxed ambience will complement and enhance your experience.

Casalingo offers a true taste of the Italian food and wines catering for intimate romantic evenings, relaxed business entertainment or fun family gatherings with equal ease. Our attentive, knowledgeable staff will be delighted to help make your evening as enjoyable as possible; and they will be happy to tell you about each authentic dish, so that you can choose from our many dishes with confidence."

Here is a link to the menu.

Eva and I are regulars, and had a fantastic evening there last night (Valentine's Night).

It is well worth visiting.

Casalingo - Brighton

A very warm and friendly welcome awaits you at Casalingo, one of Brighton's best Italian restaurants.

Located at 29 Preston Street Brighton, Casalingo offers:

"a simple winning formula; fine, fresh ingredients (locally sourced wherever possible), truly authentic recipes, and a genuine taste of social dining, as only Italians know how!

No matter what the occasion, our unique combination of good food and relaxed ambience will complement and enhance your experience.

Casalingo offers a true taste of the Italian food and wines catering for intimate romantic evenings, relaxed business entertainment or fun family gatherings with equal ease. Our attentive, knowledgeable staff will be delighted to help make your evening as enjoyable as possible; and they will be happy to tell you about each authentic dish, so that you can choose from our many dishes with confidence."

Here is a link to the menu.

Eva and I are regulars, and had a fantastic evening there last Saturday night. The service was very friendly and professional, and the food fantastic. 

It is well worth visiting. 

We most certainly will be going again!

The Rostick Revisited

 

Kudos and thanks to Lorenzo Cinalli and Lonela "Nelly" Pricop and the good people of the Rostick Restaurant in Eastbourne for our very warm welcome, professional friendly service and exceptional food.

It has been three years since we last went there (see review), but thanks to the none too "small" matter of the pandemic our plans to revisit were delayed until last Saturday.

We were not disappointed, it was bloody brilliant!

Donatello Brighton Reopens For Takeaway and Delivery

GOOD NEWS 🎉- We are BACK open this evening from 5pm for some delicious takeaways AND we have ADDED to the menu - you now have MORE Donatello to choose from 👍👍😋
Order through Deliveroo or through calling and collecting on 01273 775477. Menu online #Brightontakeaway pic.twitter.com/TPQO3neG6C

— DonatelloBrighton (@donatello__) May 6, 2020

Don't Fuck With Traditional Italian Cuisine!

Italian Chef loses it on English daytime show when they try to change traditional bolognese 😂 pic.twitter.com/fYAb2YRgvQ

— Learn Sicilian (@learnsicilian) January 25, 2019

Full agree with the chef here.

BTW, that also means to don't put cream into carbonara!

Italian Night at The Dover Castle

Kudos and thanks to Chef Jason Bear and the good people of The Dover Castle for putting on an excellent Italian evening last night.

The food and atmosphere were great.

Double points to Jason for hand rolling his pasta with a rolling pin, not one of those fancy pasta rolling machines.

The Italian Evening at The Dover Castle Brighton

My heartiest congratulations, and kudos, to Chef Jason Bear and the good people of the Dover Castle Brighton, for hosting an Italian Evening last night....oh the official title was:

Italian Food For Families, Friends and Lovers

Irrespective of semantics the food, atmosphere and service were absolutely bloody brilliant.

The small plates of splendid, tasty and homemade Italian food were great. Chef Jason Bear created dishes using family recipes, and made use of a rolling pin for the homemade pasta (no poncey modern pasta machines for him!).

The food was top notch and, as far as I am concerned, the lasagne was the best I have ever had (even better than my own!). Also, by the way, the lamb neck with borlottie beans was ace. Eva was well pleased with her arancini and calamari.

Oh, and by the way, the Prosecco and sambucas lubricated our palettes nicely.

Please may we have more of these evenings!

Rostick Restaurant Voted Restaurant of The Year 2018

Kudos to Lornezo Cinalli and the good people of the Rostick Restaurant in Eastbourne (which I reviewed this July) for being voted, by readers of the Eastbourne Herald, Restaurant of The Year 2018.

A well deserved award!

Rostick Restaurant Eastbourne

Restaurant

Rostick Restaurant
209 Terminus Road,
Eastbourne
BN21 3 DH

01323 301 400

Overview

Eva and I were in Eastbourne for a couple of days this week, and visited Rostick for lunch on Tuesday.

Rostick is an Italian restaurant offering food "direct from the foothills of Abruzzo - known as the greenest area of Europe - where its pastures run for miles to the shores of the Adriatic, this is the source of Italian food at its finest."

Uniquely, it imports Abruzzo-grown mountain lamb for the signature dish, Arrosticini (Rosticks).

 The pasta is made fresh daily in the traditional way.

Ambience

The restaurant has a traditional rustic style to it, cosy inside, with outside seating for when the weather is good. As it was sunny and warm, we sat outside and dined alfresco.

Menu

The menu has an excellent selection of homemade pasta, meat, fish and specials.

Service

We were warmly welcomed by the owner Lorenzo Cinalli and his partner, who looked after us very nicely; they were very friendly, efficient and professional.

Food

Eva started with the carpaccio di mazo, thin-sliced beef served over green salad with olive oil and parmesan shavings. The meat was flavoursome and exceptionally tender. Notably, and to its credit, the portion was generous.

She then had the Fusilli con Gamberi, Capesante e Zucchine, homemade corkscrew pasta with king prawns, scallops, courgettes, garlic and tomatoes. This was a hearty and tasty dish, where the flavours were well balanced and not overpowering.

I started with the Rigatoni all’amatriciana, fresh rigatoni with pancetta, onions and tomato. This was excellent, the flavours were well balanced and the portion very decent but not overwhelming. Note, this dish does not need parmesan, as Lorenzo correctly advised me.

I then had one of the specials, a veal t bone steak with a special tomato, garlic and wine sauce. The meat (locally sourced) was exceptionally tender and had a beautiful flavour. The sauce complimented the meat without overpowering it, and not diverting one's attention away from it.

Bloody marvellous!

The bill, which included, service, Prosecco, sambucas and coffee came to came to £110.

Overall Opinion

An excellent restaurant, well worth making a special trip to Eastbourne just to eat here. We will be doing that again!

Oh and here, by the way, is a photo of a their stuffed roast pork!

Happy 40th Birthday Pinocchio of Brighton!

Green's Bar

Restaurant

Green's Bar
136 Freshfield Road
Brighton
BN2 0BR
Tel: 01273 603473

Website Green's Bar

Overview

Eva and popped into Green's Bar the other week (which is nearby us), to sample the new Italian menu that they have introduced.

Green's is both a bar and restaurant near to Queen's Park, owned and run by Paul Green.

It offers an Italian menu, freshly prepared from locally sourced produce.

Ambience

Green's is a light, bright, airy and cheerful establishment that welcomes both drinkers and diners. It also has a large sunny (in Summer!) south facing garden, that can accommodate up to 70.

Paul offers all of his customers a warm and cheerful welcome.

Menu

The menu offers a decent selection of Italian pastas and pizzas. There are no specific meat (carne) dishes as yet on the menu, which to my view is a shame.

However, the menu includes Lasagne, Bolognese, Carbonara and a variety of pizzas and calzones.

Service

The service (by Paul) was very friendly, cheerful and efficient. We even ended up having a few drinks with him after our meal.

Food

I started with the Lasagne.

This, although not as enormous in portion size as other establishments, was by far the best I have ever tasted when dining out. The dish was rich, smooth and unctuous, it literally melted in my mouth.

I then chose the Bolognese for my main course. This was a decent sized portion of a traditional dish. The beef mince in tomato, mushroom and red wine sauce had body and flavour without being overpowering. The spaghetti was fine, although rather whiter in colour than I am accustomed to seeing.

Eva started with the Tricolore Insalata (beef tomato with mozzarella and avocado). This was a well presented dish, and was by all accounts very pleasant in texture and flavour.

For her main course, Eva chose the Pizza Espanol (tomato, chorizo, mozzarella and peppers). This comes on a thin crust and was, by all accounts excellent; most notably the thin crust actually had flavour, unlike many other places that present pizzas made from a rubber like tasteless substance masquerading as dough.

The bill, which included wine and liqueurs, came to around £60.

Overall Opinion

A very enjoyable meal, and worthwhile visiting (most especially if you live in the Queen's Park/Hanover area, as well run local enterprises should be supported).

We look forward to returning again.

Rose Gray Dies

Rose Gray Dies

Rose Gray, the co-founder of the River Cafe restaurant in London, has died at the age of 71 after a long battle with cancer.

She set up the restaurant with Ruth Rogers in 1987.

Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall both worked at the River Cafe.

Jamie's Brighton

Jamie's Brighton

We were going to visit Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Brighton this Saturday. However, when trying to a book a table, I was informed by a member of their staff that they were not taking bookings that evening.

Their loss!

Sofia's Italian Restaurant (Brighton)

Sofia's Italian Restaurant (Brighton)

Sofia's Italian Restaurant, 24 Ship Street, Brighton, rather let themselves down last night.

They had run out of brandy, aside from this failure in restocking depriving me of my post meal quaffing it also buggered up my main course.

They failed to point out that my steak (allegedly cooked in a brandy and cream sauce) would be bereft of one of the key ingredients (ie the brandy).

Unsurprisingly the sauce was bland, the reason becoming clear only after I passed comment on it.

Why didn't someone just go out and buy another bottle?

La Barca Revisited

La Barca Revisited

Top marks again to one of my favourite Italian restaurants in London, La Barca, for presenting another excellent meal, hospitality and evening.

I went there last Friday with my mother and uncle, and we had a splendid evening; my poussin was superb as was the rest of our meal.

I am very happy to continue to recommend La Barca.

Rodolfino

Restaurant

Rodolfino
Stora Nygatan 1
Stockholm
Sweden

Phone 08 411 84 97

Website www.rodolfino.lunchinfo.com

Overview

Eva and I visited Rodolfino a couple of weeks ago, this used to be an old haunt of ours in Stockholm that we used to regularly visit in the 1990's.

Rodolfino is a traditional Italian restaurant in the Gamla Stan (Old Town) of Stockholm, a popular area for tourists.

Ambience

Rodolfino is a charming, cheerful and traditional Italian restaurant; tables are laid with red and white chequered cloths each with a small table lamp with the same pattern.

The restaurant, in the summer, also offers outside seating.

Menu

The menu consists of an excellent range of pasta, meat and fish dishes including; snails, lasagne, cannelloni, pizza, spaghetti carbonara, soups, steaks and seafood.

Service

The service was very friendly and efficient, indeed it was nice to see that the same owners that we knew from our previous visits all those years ago are still running the place.

We were made to feel very welcome, as we always were in the past.

Food

I began with the lasagne, which was first class. It was hot and bubbling, with just the right amount of meat and pasta complemented by a smooth bechamel sauce.

I chose the sirloin steak for my main course, this was excellent and very tender; it was very nicely cooked, and contained the right amount of fat to ensure that it was succulent and juicy.

The steak was served with a very generous bowl of thin cut fries and a bernaise sauce, which was an excellent accompaniment.

Eva eschewed a starter, and went for the spaghetti carbonara. This was superb, it consisted of a large bowl of pasta and carbonara sauce with a very generous amount of bacon. Atop of the dish was a raw egg yolk in a shell, which added extra richness. This was a very nice touch.

A truly excellent meal.

The meal, which included a bottle of Masi Serego and some coffees/liqueurs, came to 957SEK before tip.

Overall Opinion

A wonderful, friendly and cheerful restaurant which is definitely worth visiting; we will most certainly be coming back.

The Verona

The Verona

Those of you passing through Seoul should check out The Verona Italian Restaurant in the Imperial Palace Hotel.

"Verona is a place for authentic Italian food, where you will find the best quality steaks, seafood, pasta, pizza and desserts. The unique furniture of the restaurant creates the ambiance of an Italian country home."

I am reliably informed by a good friend and colleague that it is excellent.

Jamie's Authentic Italian

Jamie's Authentic Italian

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has announced that he will create a chain of Italian restaurants across Britain. The first branch of "Jamie's Italian" will open in Bath next year. He is planning to create a chain of up to 40 across Britain.

The aim is to prepare "rustic Italian" cuisine. All pasta will be freshly made on site, and the bread will be baked daily by artisan bakers.

The mission of the chain is to create a "fast, urban casual dining" experience.