Portobello Ristorante, Aldridge

Close your eyes and for a moment you could be transported to Italy with the delicious taste of well-cooked food satisfying your taste buds and the sound of Luciano Pavarotti ringing in your ears.

The Portobello Ristorante in High Street, Aldridge, certainly does its best to offer a flavour of Italy.

The restaurant, which opened in 1998, has earnt an excellent reputation so this week I decided to check out what all the fuss was about.

A mouthwatering selection of food is on offer at the restaurant which has built up a loyal band of customers.

What strikes you first of all is the huge selection of dishes on offer and the problem was choosing which meal to go for.

Starters include lasagne, £5.10, garlic mushrooms, £4.90, seafood salad, £5.60, and gamberetti, £5.25, which is shell-on king prawns with a marie rose dip.

I decided to opt for cannelloni, costing £5.10, which is minced beef and vegetables stuffed in pasta with a bechamel sauce. It really was delicious.

There are 19 pasta dishes on offer including spaghetti napoli which is served in a rich tomato sauce with garlic and herbs. It is priced at £8.55.

Other meals included tortellini portobello which is pasta stuffed with cheese and spinach, garlic, green and red peppers and herbs in a cream sauce, priced at £9.85.

Pasta on offer includes tagliatelle panza which is priced at £9.95. It comprises of pieces of chicken breast and mushrooms in a creamy tomato sauce with garlic and herbs.

Seven of the pasta dishes are also suitable for vegetarians including risotto vegetarian, £9.45, and vegetarian pesto, also priced £9.45. The dish comes with spaghetti tossed with Italian mixed vegetables, olive oil and the restaurant's own pesto sauce, topped with roasted walnuts.

There is a selection of 12 pizzas to choose from. Tomato margherita is priced £7.85 and the portobello special pizza is priced £9.95. The special comes with cheese, tomato, mushrooms, ham, salami, pepperoni, peppers, onions and herbs.

There is also a good selection of fish dishes available including salmon al vernaccia which costs £13.80. It consists of a fillet of salmon with prawns, capers and dill in a cream sauce with garlic.

Other fish dishes include sea bass rossini, priced £15.15, and swordfish dish pesci spada caldo which also costs £15.15.

The restaurant has a number of speciality steak and chicken dishes on offer. The filleto speciale, £15.65, is a steak covered with onions, garlic, mushrooms and prawns in a creamy white sauce.

Other specialities include pollo pomadore, £14.45, which is a tender piece of chicken with mixed peppers in a spicy tomato sauce, covered with mozzarella cheese.

For my main course I chose spaghetti polpette from the pasta section which was priced at £9.85. It was a very generous portion of spaghetti with home-made meatballs made with the restaurant's own napoli sauce with onions, garlic and chilli.

The meatballs were very tasty with the right combination of chilli making it hot but not overpoweringly so.

Helen chose pollo con prosciutto al forno from the speciality section priced at £14.70. Once again there was a very generous portion of tender chicken breast topped with cured ham cooked in a rich napoli sauce, oven baked with mozzarella cheese and vegetables. She said the food was tasty but commented that she felt it was overpriced. For pudding we both opted for chocolate fudge cake with ice cream, priced £4.15, which was faultless. We then finished with two cappucino coffees. All in all we both enjoyed our dining experience at the Portobello Ristorante and would recommend you pay it a visit. The staff are friendly and very efficient and the atmosphere is good with classic Italian music playing in the distance while you enjoy your meal.

I think you will leave the restaurant satisfied with the food and your whole dining experience.

Andy Richardson

High Street

Aldridge

Tel: 01922 744777