Thereâs a big surprise waiting as you enter the latest Piccolino to emerge from the Individual Restaurant Stable; itâs huge. Anyone familiar with the location will wonder how premises that appeared so small and cramped in the past could have been transformed into such a light and airy space. The bleached out look isnât to my taste but fellow diners seemed at home with the décor.
From the start I was impressed with the overall quality of the ingredients. Following a shared pre-starter of excellent garlic and herb bread, my Squid proved to be the tiniest bit chewy; having been slightly over-cooked, the accompanying roasted garlic mayo was rather good though. My wifeâs starter of sautéed chicken livers with grapes, Marsala wine and pine nuts was a knockout. Served very pink at the centre, as ordered, the silky texture of the offal and the sweetness of the grapes contrasted well with the deliciously rich peppery sauce.
Individually, the talented staff put on a rather accomplished show, but as a team the whole experience proved a bit hit and miss; hardly surprising really as our Italian waiter had told us this was his first shift at this restaurant.
At this stage I was enjoying a glass of draught Messina, having been informed that the advertised Peroni Gran Riserva was unavailable. Against a Tamla Motown soundtrack I ordered a bottle of Verdiccio and gazed at the beautifully presented char grilled lamb cutlets, with spring peas and prosciutto, set out in front of me. Across the table the roast halibut with Amalfi lemon and spring vegetable risotto looked less attractive in its presentation. I enjoyed my main course but the dish had suffered from too much time spent under the grill. Sadly, the lamb looked rather grey with no sign of the pinkness requested in the meat. The saltiness of the ham and the sweetness of the peas worked well together and the rosemary and garlic potatoes were delicious. Despite the poor presentation of my wifeâs fish dish it was, however, superbly cooked, the thick slab of fish just translucent at its centre, the bed of vegetable risotto gorgeously creamy; the quality of the ingredients again coming through.
I donât often rave about puddings but I was pleased to learn that instead of the easy option of buying in desserts this restaurant makes it own. I had opted for one of the specials, on the advice of a waitress; a pressed double chocolate torte. It was absolutely amazing, served with mascarpone cream I simply had to pinch some raspberries from my wifeâs choice of fresh summer fruits to partner those wonderful textures.
To my mind this Didsbury branch has a lot going for it, especially given its rather affluent location and regular celebrity clientele. It needs to fine tune the timing and presentation of some of the dishes, to shout about the quality and sourcing of its ingredients and become confident enough to develop its own identity.
Russ Otterwell
Piccolino
6, Lapwing Lane
West Didsbury
Manchester
M20 2WS
0161 434 7524
www.individualrestaurants.co.uk
Opening times: Mon-Fri 11am-11pm; Sat 10am-11pm; 10am-10.30pm Sun