Pesto, Appley Bridge - a review

Last weekend we popped over to the cute Lancashire village of Appley Bridge to visit Pesto at the Dicconson Arms, a beautiful marriage of pub meets Italian food and not just any Italian food, piattini no less. Situated just off the M6 junction 27 as you head towards Parbold, its really easy to find.

The decor is classic country house with contemporary Italian touches, I particular liked the chunky Mediterranean pottery and flashes of lime green and orange in the decor. The facilities were lovely. very clean and nicely furnished too.

The staff were warm and friendly and on arrival we were shown to a delightful window side table, furnished with the chunky pottery as previously mentioned. We ordered drinks as we perused the extensive menu, which caters for all. Even though it was fairly early into the lunch service we were soon joined by plenty of other diners.

The ambiance in the restaurant was good, the tables were decadently spaced and unlike a lot of other contemporary styled venues, it wasn't echo prone.                                          

Piatinni for those not in the know is the Italian version of tapas, i.e small plates, well for me that's almost food heaven. Italian food but with the ability to taste anything and everything, so we did just that selecting from across the wide and varied menu. Here's our selection

Bruschetta al salmone affumicato - just enough for two, crunchy bread topped with smooth cream cheese and moist flavourful smoked salmon.

Olive miste - mixed olives, tasty and more than adequate, but not the best olives I have every eaten.

Selezione di pane Italiano - bread basket of various breads, including sun dried tomato, ciabiatta. On the menu this is supposed come with oil and vinegar, ours didn't arrive, minor point and frankly we didn't notice until comparing the menu and what we had ordered for this post. Sure if we had mentioned it would have arrived pronto.

Insalata Toscana -  one of the stand out dishes, mixed salad with beans, avocado, tuna and red onion. Perfectly seasoned and with a delicious dressing, just enough to enhance and not drown the salad.

 Calamari fritti - a personal favourite, lightly battered squid rings with a punchy dip

Gamberoni all’ aglio e peperoncino - tasty king prawns with hints of garlic and chilli

Polpette di manzo - Spicy meatballs, served with a tasty tomato sauce, enough spicing to keep them interesting yet not blow your head off.

Pizzetta rustica - Cute little baby pizza, topped with goats cheese and rocket. Very tasty, just wished we had ordered two. Nice crust on the pizza

Fettuccine alla carbonara - an Italian classic, pancetta was crispy and the sauce silky, pasta al dente. Very nice would order again.

Arancini - classic milanese risotto (saffron) balls in a crispy crumb, stuffed with melted mozarella. I was recommended by a friend who eats regularly at the Trafford Centre Pesto, they were nice but thought they lacked a dip or sauce to eat them with.

Followed by desserts to share

Affogato - two balls of ice cream, we chose chocolate and vanilla, topped with a hot shot of espresso, delicious and very refreshing,  I love affogato and the combination of coffee with chocolate was sublime.

Tiramisu - served in a cute little pot, we were warned the portion were small, but we didn't think they were at all, just the perfect size. Lovely light sponge, creamy filling and more coffee flavour.

We really enjoyed our lunch and were impressed with the standard of food , we noted that they have an offer of 3 piatinni dishes for £8.95 or £10.95 at certain times and days, which looks to be good value for money. Pesto is a small and growing chain so check out if there is one near you.

Interestingly enough one of the waitresses mentioned that most men don't get the concept of piatinni , Mr LF had no such trouble !

The staff had no idea that we were undertaking a review until it came to settle the bill, so we received exactly the same service standards as anyone else visiting. We were mightly impressed by Pesto, the venue and concept is unique in the area and we are already planning our next visit.

                                                         

Our lunch was provided free of charge for review purposes, all views and opinions are our own.

#BoothsMakesSoup - Health + Value + Flavour

Recently those lovely people at Booths Supermarket sent us a parcel containing two of their new soup bags, each of which contain all the ingredients you need to make a delicious soup. We received a pasta and bean soup bag and Thai sweet potato and noodle soup bag.

They also sent a fab new shopping bag and yes "I flippin' love booths" as I have had the flu recently Mr LF followed the recipe for the Pasta and bean soup carefully, substituting gluten free pasta for the macaroni supplied and he created a great wholesome tasty soup, perfect sick bed food.

Like most soup recipes, its not really complicated, just chopped vegetables cooked in stock with added beans and pasta.

Finished by adding the beans and the pasta, all the ingredients are in the bag except a tiny amount of oil and water for the stock cube. 

Below are the ingredients for the Thai sweet potato noodle soup, again easily made gluten free by subbing the noodles for rice noodles.

The soup bags were supplied by Booths free of charge for review purposes, all opinions are my own.

Vincents restaurant at Preston College

I'm not sure as to why more people don't support their local college training restaurants as they are a great dining venue, where the standard of food is always very high for the cost you pay for the menu.

The restaurants are an essential training ground for the chefs, sommeliers and front of house staff of the future and provide the students with an environment in which to hone their skills.

We were really pleased to be invited along to Vincents the training restaurant for Preston College for a Venetian evening. I let the college know I needed gluten free before arriving so they could adapt the menu accordingly.

Vincents like most training restaurants in located in a dedicated area of the college and unfortunately for most they can suffer from the "college" look, Vincents I am pleased to say is better than most in its appeal.

The service we received was warm and efficient and the students were keen to please, we also had a lovely discussion with one of the lecturers on local food and their sourcing policy which I am pleased to say is very much on a local basis. We only had one slight drop in service when our mains came out and I think there must have been some confusion over whether I had received a gluten free version of the dish and my plate was whisked away for a moment but this was quickly rectified.

The evening has been organised by a student with an emphasis on the food, so the Italian touches in the dining area where subtle such as red, white and green table coverings and subtle Italian music. The food menu was lovely and thankfully for me only actually had one pasta dish on it anyway.

Mr LF's bruschetta ! , they kindly provided a dish of garlic mushrooms for myself instead of the bread. My mushrooms were very tasty if a little plain looking and the bruschetta according to Mr LF was tasty and a nice appetiser.

Melon and parma ham, a light starter for us both, the flavours were clean and fresh, a good balance.

Chicken main , well flavoured sauce and the chicken breast was stuffed with spinach and cheese.

Sea bass main, the pea veloute was of particular note.

Mr LF's dessert of tiramisu, cherry tart and zabaglione

I had my own assiette of cherries, zabaglione and a rich dark chocolate tart.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Vincents and wouldn't hesitate to pay a return visit. The restaurant is open for Lunch in term times, Tuesday to Friday and also on Thursday evening for dinner, they also run the coffee bar in the college as well. Vincents can be contacted on 01772 225432 for bookings (11am - 2pm Mon - Fri).