(Crab Ravioli)
Because I am a brilliant, kind and loving daughter, I took my mum to Cafe Grande Piccolino for lunch. I admit that I would not have considered it a viable option until I received a Club Individual Card through work with £40 on. Not really enough for a family dinner but certainly about right for lunch for two.
On the Wednesday mum and I caught the train into Manchester, dropped my bags at my flat and made our way to Piccolino. I won’t lie, it was quite exciting. I had seen brilliant pictures of gorgeous food posted by friends and colleagues and the reviews were out of this world. I had high hopes. I think it boded well for Piccolino that on a Wednesday afternoon I was worried we may not actually get a table. But we did, or I would be reviewing a Gregg’s pasty instead. We were soon seated on a little table for two by a very pretty young Italian man which we were hardly complaining about.
At first the duck egg blue seating seemed a little odd and out of place to me amongst the deep wood and shiny golden colours that made up the rest of the restaurant but mum made a very good point. The blue toned the restaurant down and stopped it from becoming too stuffy and rich. Happy with that reasoning I could read the menu. And what a menu! I wanted everything on it but the one thing that stood out to me was the seafood risotto. It just sounded divine. Saffron risotto with prawns, mussles and calamari; pretty much all my favourite seafood in my favourite rice dish. Perfect.
And it was. So, so perfect. I could have happily eaten it again five times over. The rice was beautifully cooked and the saffron was a flavour rather than a colour which was surprising and, dare I say, thrilling. The prawns were fat and flavoursome and the mussles! Oh the mussles. I have eaten mussles in sea ports in France, Italy and Spain and I don't recall ever being as stunned by their flavour as I was eating at Piccolino. They were meaty and salty and tasted incredible. I made mum eat one so that she was not left out of this experience. They more than made up from the ever so slightly rubbery, plain calamari, that’s for sure.
Mum opted for a ravioli stuffed with crabs meat, chilli and lime (main image). Not only did it look fabulous but it tasted fabulous too and I am not the world’s biggest crab fan. The meat was rich and well balanced with the chillies and lime which didn't take over or give the meat an unnecessary heat. The pasta too was well cooked and well made, not tough or soggy and certainly not too thick, I think there was more filling than pasta in that respect.
(Seafood Risotto)
As we walked in we had passed the dessert cabinet and so mum had spotted the Opera Cake and knew she had to have one. Which is why we happily accepted the dessert menus from our lovely waiter. Of course, mum ordered the Opera cake that she had spotted and after long deliberation I settled on a chocolate fondant.
The fondant was a chocolatey heaven. A rich chocolate sponge crammed full of a thick, creamy, bitter-sweet chocolate sauce, covered in melted chocolate and accompanied by a delicate salted caramel ice cream. The chocolate had a perfect shine to it and was the perfect balance of bitter and sweet. The ice cream I felt was a little nondescript and understated next to the rich fondant but I needed it to stop the chocolate taking over. Don't get me wrong it was lovely but I felt the flavour could have been more defined or they could have opted for vanilla.
And we cannot forget mum's Opera cake; a dessert I am endlessly jealous that I didn't order. Layers of sponge, orange, coffee and chocolate, it was like the ultimate tiramisu in a compact cake. It was bigger than we expected and just as rich and powerful as an Opera singer's voice. I wonder if that is where the name came from? But next time we visit I just have to have one for myself or maybe pop in and see if they do take away.
(Oprah Cake)
(Chocolate Fondant)
The bill came to just over £40 and under £50 so I considered that a success seeing as I had £40 to spend on it and Mum had 2 cups of coffee. It took a while to get the bill because every time I made eye contact with the waiter to ask him I just grinned like a goon. He was just too pretty for me to be able to ask for the bill like a normally functioning human being. Eventually, after many grins at the waiter, mum intervened and asked for the bill on my behalf.
I felt, over all, that the the food was amazing and really well priced for the sheer quality. We are already discussing our next trip there and what we would have; we are leaning towards the afternoon tea (also reasonably priced at £15pp).
So yeah, I would really recommend visiting Piccolino if you have the cash to spare, I'm currently saving up for the next trip or hoping for a treat from work. I know which one will come sooner though so fingers crossed mum will help with the bill...Father's day is just around the corner after all...