L’Italiano

Unfortunately we were forgotten about while dining. Our entrée took an hour to bring out and dessert took two hours, and was presented only after we asked if it was coming. Albeit, we are during a night England played in the World Cup, but there were eight tables occupied at maximum.
The food itself was excellent, but we were kept waiting quite a long time.

The fruity drinks were amazing! Started with one and had to get another! I had the San Francisco and the New York. Had the panna cotta which was the best dessert I’ve ever had.

Every once in a while, it’s nice to be treated to dinner on business expenses. An old business colleague was in town and we decided to catch up over a quick dinner at her hotel, Park Plaza County Hall. When the hotel restaurant provided a very reasonable price offering of 2 courses for £15, how could we refuse?!
This was an early dinner so the ambience of the restaurant wasn’t very lively, but it picked up as the evening proceeded. We secured a nice balcony table where you can look down on the bar below, perfect for all those people watchers out there like myself! One downside of an early dinner was the waiters were obviously bored and so we got bombarded with them from all sides every 2 minutes. I have to admit, I find this off-​putting; it feels like people are watching you as you eat and that feeling gives me the creeps. Having said that, they were all very pleasant so that was something
I had baby chicken with rosemary potatoes and an overly generous helping of garlic oil; I LOVE garlic (no vampires here!) so that’s not a problem for me but if you’re not keen beware. Chicken was slightly dry but otherwise beautifully crispy skin, which I love. My business colleague plumped for a very juicy looking ribeye steak cooked as she requested (always a good sign). Wash this down with a couple of glasses of white Pinot Grigio-​Chardonnay this made for a very pleasant, sophisticated evening. I even wore a tie!
No Italian meal is complete in my book without a helping of Tiramisu to finish off the meal. This is the dish I use to fully gauge the quality of the restaurant, one of my favourite desserts in all the world! This one fell a tad flat as I personally enjoy a splash of liqueur running through the marscapone to add that extra flavouring.
All in all, for a business-​type evening meal with sophisticated discussion, it works for me.