When I visit Rosso I am reminded of the Stella Artois slogan of old – “reassuringly expensive” – by which I mean that, although Rosso is by no means cheap, you’re pretty much guaranteed a really good meal.
My companion started with the Carne Salata (Mountain Carpaccio) which was absolutely delicious. It was accompanied by a small bottle of delicious extra-virgin olive oil which you could drizzle over the carpaccio yourself. Perfect for all you meat lovers out there – as my companion said, it is the steak of starters.
I chose a slightly more modest starter – the beetroot soup (Zuppa di Barbabietole). I chose this on the basis that there were 2 more courses to come and i had hoped it would be a nice night starter. What i had not counted on was the delicious array of bread and olives that would accompany the starter. However if you can resist the delicious bread (which unfortunately I can never do) this would be a delicious light flavoursome starter to enjoy before a heavier main course.
Moving on, I sampled the tuna (Tonno alla Griglia) whilst my companion had the roast duckling (Anatra allo Zenzero). The tuna was beautifully pink in the middle and tasted divine, whilst the duck was rich and earthy. At this point I must just say a word about our side dishes – we went for minted peas and chips. Now I am a pea fanatic so slightly biased but they were seriously tasty; whilst the chips were the archetypal French fries – total guilty pleasure!
To round off I tried the Canoli. There were 3 fillings – chocolate, citrus and almond cream. I loved the first 2 (in particular the citrusy one) but found the 3rd a bit reminiscent of marzipan which I loath…but that’s just a matter of personal taste. The biscuit coating around the cream was sweet and crunchy, with a lovely dusting of icing sugar. My companion tried the mint chocolate mousse – delicious flavour but I found the texture a touch heavier than I’d normally enjoy in a mousse, but again this is a matter of personal taste.
To drink, we plumped for the house red – a very drinkable Nero d’Avola.
All in all a most convivial evening. The food was great, the service attentive, and to top it off there was a fabulous female vocalist singing a mix of crooner classics and modern pop.
The perfect taste of the “Med for Manchester”… Highly recommended!
The new a la carte menu is available from the 7th February.
For bookings and information visit:
rossorestaurants.com
