Entertainments | Restaurant Reviews | Piccolino's
Located in Smith Street, Warwick, Piccolinoís restaurant offers a welcome alternative for those who want to avoid the mass-produced pizza and pasta market.
The restaurant is decorated in traditional green, white and red. We were seated at the front of the restaurant near the babble of those waiting for take-aways. If you are looking for an evening without disturbance, I suggest you ask for a table at the back of the restaurant. The menu featured a wide choice of pizza, pasta and calzoni (a folded pizza), so there was plenty of choice for the Italian food lover. I am not a great connoisseur of pizza and had to ask what one or two of the more unusual items were. The waitress was helpful and did recommend a number of vegetarian options to my non-meat eating guest. But when asked if she was sure the cheeses on the pizzas she had recommended were vegetarian, she was not sure after all, which was alarming.
I started with Pollo Noci, which was as good as any mix of chicken, salad and walnuts I had tasted. My guest had the Fungi starter (mushrooms with cheese) which I am assured was delicious. There was a wide and tempting range of main courses. I had the Tagliatelli Carbonara (Pasta with ham, bacon and cream) which on reflection was not an adventurous choice on my part, but there was an ample serving and the food was very tasty.
My guest had a large vegetarian pizza and was allowed to mix and match the toppings to taste, which for £8.10 was not bad value for money but the Piccolino definition of large is not as large as other pizzerias.
Again, the waitress was chatty and keen to offer advice. The main courses were supplemented by delicious Ciabbata bread and a generous side salad. The half-carafe of house white wine at £10.35 could be best described as adequate, but I would not order it on a revisit.
The large soft drinks ordered with meal, were either overpriced or we were given a small measure. On seeing the special dessert of the night was caramelised apple pie, my choice was easily made and I was not disappointed. My guest had tiramisu, being a true expert on the subject he was keen to sample the Piccolino version. He was very disappointed with a small, tasteless and watery half-effort well below the standard of other restaurants, and the food we had already eaten.
The meal came to £50 including drinks which I suppose is about average for a night out in Warwick. The food, although not outstanding, was for the most part above average and competitively priced. To avoid parking problems, I suggest an early evening table at the restaurant. On a return visit I would try their other branch, which is in Spencer Street, Leamington and I look forward to seeing how that compares. Arryn Buggins ***
