Delicious food and service with a smile
WHAT’S IT LIKE?
The restaurant is a huge space. It has been very tastefully refurbished and the staff told me the ceiling is the original of the Dexter School of Dance which was on Chillingham Road for decades. The attractive and inviting restaurant is open-plan and there’s a smart area perfect for drinks.
The ceiling is red and black with stunning chandeliers dotted about the room.
It really is a dramatic setting. On the Saturday night we visited at 6.30pm, Rossini was already half full with groups of families, couples and a huge long table at the back where around 20 friends and family were seated.
The Rossini’s menu was as good as the setting and there was plenty to choose from; hot and cold starters, pizza, pasta, meat dishes, risotto and seafood.
HOW WERE THE STARTERS?
There were 18 starters available. Soup of the day will set you back £2.95 or you could go for fritto misto which are king prawns, mussels and fresh squid deep fried in light batter for £5.95.
For starters, we opted for four dishes between the five of us. They arrived in good time and were served with a smile. In fact the waiting staff couldn’t do enough.
I opted for bruschetta and my friend opted for the black pudding. Across the table my teenage guests went for the potato skins and garlic cheese bread.
The bruschetta – toasted ciabatta bread brushed with fresh garlic and topped with cherry tomatoes – was a very reasonable £2.95. I dived in with gusto. Tasty but not too large a portion to put me off my main meal.
My friend said his grilled black pudding (£4.50) served in a peppercorn sauce was delicious. He really enjoyed it. The black pudding was quite refined and the dish was packed with flavour. The potato skins and the cheese garlic bread were also a huge hit with the teens and at £2.85 and £3.50, they were very reasonable priced.
HOW WERE THE MAIN COURSES?
There are 14 pizza options, 11 pasta choices, three risotto, as well as chicken, meat and fish dishes.
Pizza dishes start at £4.95, pasta from £4.95, chicken dishes from £8.50 and steaks from £11.50. I opted for the pasta amatriciana. It was a generous bowl, the pasta cooked with a satisfying bite and tasty, with plenty of bacon, mushrooms and onions worked through the dish.
My guest went for the Della Casa chicken which was an ovenroasted chicken breast stuffed with black pudding, chorizo, herbs and cheese wrapped in parma ham on