Restaurant Reviews
Where's good to go for a meal?
Whether it's a quick bite to eat at lunch, or a romantic meal in the evening. Well, pick up some tips from the Daily Echo and its readers. We've included here reviews published in the Daily Echo. Read the reviews and give us your rating or feel free to leave your comments at the bottom of each story or click here and leave your comment for restaurants we haven't featured yet.
Pulcinella, Southampton
PULCINELLA, in Carlton Place, is one of those restaurants that's easy not to notice.
In fact, although it's in a popular bar and restaurant area, its unassuming frontage means it could fall into the category of hidden gem' for many.
This is borne out by its intimate feel once you're inside: columns and walls make it feel smaller than it actually is and boost its appeal if you're looking for a venue for a candlelit dinner for two where you have a good chance of a private conversation.
That said the restaurant also caters for large parties and has an outdoor dining area.
When my companion and I visited on a Thursday night it was fairly quiet but there was a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere, which made it a great place to unwind for an early start to the weekend.
It was our waitress' first night and she was a little jumpy - forgetting to bring a spoon for the soup, getting confused over the drinks order etc - but she was very apologetic and it would have been impossible to hold it against her.
The restaurant had a good range of Italian dishes on the menu, including several vegetarian options.
I went for my old favourite, bruschetta, while my friend had the same basic ingredients in a different combination with the tomato and basil soup of the day.
Both portions were very large but happily also very good and we had no trouble tucking them away.
The ingredients tasted really fresh and the bread that both dishes came with was deliciously crusty.
For our mains my friend went for spaghetti alla vary - king prawns with chilli, olive oil and garlic - while I had penne rigatoni - fresh vegetables in a chilli and tomato sauce.
My friend's dish was very tasty, with a good number of prawns and the flavours complemented each other well.
However, I found my rigatoni a little bland. It didn't really taste of chilli and the vegetables were so large it made the dish quite hard work.
That said, I do like very spicy food and it certainly wouldn't put me off going back to the restaurant.
Drinks were reasonably priced, as was the food and it made for a pleasant alternative location to spend an evening drinking and chatting, rather than one of the local bars.
Indeed, Pulcinella is also a bar and signs dotted around remind customers that they are welcome to come in for a drink if they're not up for a full-on sit down meal.
Our meal for two, with drinks, came to just over £40, which was very reasonable.
As far as hidden gems go, this one's definitely worth seeking out.
Pulcinella Bar and Restaurant is at 16 Carlton Place, Southampton. Reservations: 023 8033 5100 or visit the website: www.pulcinellasouthampton.co.uk.
3:17pm Friday 23rd November 2007
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
