Special pasta with pesto, green beans and diced potato
Walking down West Regent Street, we spotted a line up of blackboards propped against the wall of a ground level restaurant. One read in bold letters, 2010 Scottish Restaurant
Awards winner: Best Italian Restaurant. Popping in for an impulsive lunch Mr A and I received a warm welcome by the Italian staff, even with no booking. My coat was whisked away and once seated an amuse bouche of toasted bread with a garlicky tomato dipping sauce and a small dish of olives appeared. The specials were charmingly handwritten and the combination of Italian and cursive made it a challenge to decipher!
We chose a bottle of Inozlia Sicilia (£16) – if you have deeper pockets there was a wide variety of impressive sounding wines to try with prices to match. This white wine was excellent- crisp and refreshing, perfectly balanced- just the thing for a Saturday afternoon lunchtime tipple.
Our server skillfully added on a bottle of sparkling water and enticed us to order a starter, by the simple technique of reviewing the special starters until we agreed on the Bresola. Foccacia was also suggested and ordered along with our mains and our menus were taken away with me admiring our server’s selling skills.
Osteria Piero looks to excel as a salumeria as well as a café/restaurant- there was a mouth watering array of platters of cured meats, cheeses and vegetables which are demanding a return. If the Bresola was any indication I am eagerly awaiting that trip! The cured topside of beef was arranged in overlapping circles on the plate, topped with roccola (rocket) and shaved aged parmesan, drizzled all over with EVOO and aged balsamic. It paired beautifully with the crisp foccacia, which was brushed with EVOO and scattered with snipped rosemary and sea salt.
For mains we both sampled pasta dishes. Mr A had a pasta special in a pesto sauce with green beans and diced potato. This was outstanding, the pasta enrobed by the spring like pesto, the potatoes meltingly tender and the green beans fresh and crisp. I ordered the spagettini con pomodorini- tiny spaghetti tossed in a sauce of EVOO, garlic, and cherry tomatoes, with the tiniest hint of chili (a touch more would have pleased my palate, but then again I am heavy handed with spice!) The sauce was delicate, simple, and good. Of the two, the special was the winner, and that plate was cleared within minutes.
Too full to do more than look longingly at the dessert menu, we asked for the bill. The total bill was 50, not unreasonable for two starters, two mains and wine. We walked out with happy bellies and taste buds, and look forward to a return visit to sample more Italian delights.
111 West Regent Street
Glasgow
G2 2RU
