Magazine


The Dinner Detective: San Rocco

dinner detective
9/12/2005

Unlike restaurant reviewers on some newspapers, the Dinner Detective eats out incognito and always pays for the meal. That way, the Dinner Detective gets the same treatment as the readers, giving an honest review of the service you might receive.

SAN Rocco is a great place to eat, but my advice to any visitor there would be not to arrive too hungry, because it takes a while to negotiate the menu.

The choice is so extensive that it's impossible to imagine even the fussiest of eaters being unable to find something they like among the vast range of Italian inspired dishes.

After at least 20 minutes of decision-making, during which the patient staff refrained from harassing us in the way we would have expected in some other venues, I opted for the funghi al gorgonzola (£4.50) to start, while my dining companion went for the caprino al forno (£4.75), baked goats cheese with cherry tomatoes, aubergines and basil.

Both dishes were excellent and the portion size was just right for a starter - big enough to be worth the money but not so big we couldn't face the main courses.

We washed them down with a Barolo Manzone 1999 (£24), chosen from a wine list almost as extensive as the menu.

For the main course, I chose salmon (£11.75) which was cooked to perfection and delicious, while my opposite number decided on saltimboca alla romana (£11.50), a traditional Roman dish of veal topped with Parma ham in a Marsala sauce, which was declared delicious.

Both dishes were served with a good selection of vegetables.

The service was excellent throughout the meal, and drivers should beware as the waiters topped up our wine glasses so discreetly that it was hard to keep an eye on what we were drinking.

For dessert we sampled poached peaches (£4.50), which were unusual and very sweet - the perfect end to a great meal.

And we will have to go back again, because there are so many things left to try...


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