Italian restaurants are a common enough fixture of most high streets regardless of whether they are pizza or pasta joints. But this new suburban set Italian aims to offer a whole lot more.
They say:
The Daily Telegraph: “All the breads, pasta and biscuits are made on the premises and it seems like a jolly enough spot to enjoy with friends for lunch or dinner.”
We say:
Word has it that this joint has a following with tourists who flock here to take a peek at what was once a music shop where Eric Clapton purchased his first guitar. Well, if that’s one reason why anyone would come to Surbiton, Victoriana tries hard to be another.
The pedigree’s pretty decent as the owners are heavy hitters from one of London’s best Italian’s so there’s experience to boot.
Named after Queen Victoria whose bust adorns the bar, the place certainly isn’t devoid of charm with a fine balance of period fixtures – the restaurant was one of the original Waitrose stores – and contemporary touches though the menu leans on the latter.
Octopus with celery, potatoes and leaf salad positively rocks with a sparkling lemon dressing but at £7 for a starter the price tag too is sharp. Alas, most of the starter prices hover around this range and that seems pricey.
The fresh pasta dishes - starters or mains - fare better on the wallet and are worth every penny particularly when it comes to the likes of duck ravioli with ceps and wild mushroom sauce (£7).
Luck isn’t quite on the side of the mains at least not with the grilled monkfish with horseradish mashed potato and cherry vinaigrette (£14.50).
Nothing wrong with the fish, it’s just that the spread of cherry tomatoes didn’t quite marry well with the former. Still, there’s plenty more to choose from.
Desserts make an excellent case with the likes of warm chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream (£4.50) as does the watermelon granita.
So a good enough place for sure, but far from a destination one.
ADDRESS
158 Ewell Road
Surbiton
Surrey
tel, 020 88390 7564
POSTED...
Fri 8 Sep 2006 at 5:29pm
