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Thelastpenmon: A winner at Al Bacio

Thelastpenmon: A winner at Al Bacio: After working most of the new year, and missing all the celebrations, i was over the moon to find out from the nice people at Manchester C...

A winner at Al Bacio

After working most of the new year, and missing all the celebrations, i was over the moon to find out from the nice people at Manchester Confidential, that i had won a meal for two at a moderately new
Italian restaurant Al Bacio.
I had won the meal via twitter, sending a silly picture of myself replicating the chef on the restaurants
logo, my good lady suggested that we hit the sales on the friday and then relax with the meal early evening.
Once we found the place down the back street just off Deansgate and Bridge street we had every table bar one to choose from, this generally sends alarm bells off with me, as i find a good turn over of food is usually better that food waiting to be used.
We had four fantastic waiters to choose from and if that wasn't enough the owner came over to as how we were. I found them all very nice and impressed them with my Italian, learned from Gregory's girl or course " Bella Bella".

The wine list reached for the stars but not being a huge fan of Italian wine we plumed for the house red,
this was a light Montepulciano d'abruzzo and not bad at a tad under £16.
I know screw top caps are helping save the planet now, but i must admit it kills the atmosphere,splendor and tension as the waiter watches to see if the wine is corked or not, i sometimes feel like saying " this wine is screwed" as they ask me to try it.

We ordered king scallops for starters and whilst waiting took in the decor, the interior is beautiful with fabulous chandeliers and well set spacious tables, but i feel the only letdown is the transfers of the chefs giant hands touching the finger and thumb, as the the italians do " mama mia "

The starters came obviously quick and were served in their shell, they were aptly named kings as they all most filled the shell, once eaten we were left with quite a lot of sauce left and that was the only thing i felt was missing from our table Bread! There was a brand new stone oven in the corner so i think they are missing out on filling the air with the aroma of fresh bread.

We made a little conversation with the other couple in there but we didn't have much time to chat as our mains were with us in minutes, i had the veal in a rich tomato and red wine sauce and karen had a creamy mixed seafood pasta dish, both dishes were fantastic and the accompaniment  of seasonal vegetables went really well, i had learned from my lack of bread starter and ordered a side order which mopped up the excess sauces wonderfully.

We did have a small break and a chat before waiter number four asked if we would like to try a dessert,
as any good lady does she orders the Triamisu while i decided to try the Grappa, at this point i was feeling guilty as i had not informed them that this was on the house but hey ho you don't win treats every day, the Tiramisu was a made in a small glass and i must admit i think a slice from a large home made one would be better but it was ok never the less.

We asked for the bill and then showed them the email, i think its only fair we go back and try a few more dishes in a couple months, but until then i must put to bed the phrase " No such thing as a free meal" and thank everyone who made our new year special.   www.al-bacio.co.uk