La Carbonara, Swindon (From This Is Wiltshire)

La Carbonara, Swindon

12:37pm Thursday 9th July 2009

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I had been looking forward to meeting up with my husband for lunch, following a bit of shopping. However, as the temperature was nudging 32 degrees, I decided to abandon the shopping and just do lunch.

We decided to go to La Carbonara, which had been highly recommended to us.

The outside was not inspiring and it still looked like the spit and sawdust pub it had previously been.

But it is now painted in the colours of the Italian flag, with the ground floor a rather vivid green. Inside it was a cheerful orange, with red and white checked table cloths and the ubiquitous candles in Chianti bottles.

The menu offers approximately 30 starters, ranging from £2.95 for garlic bread to £7.25 for smoked salmon and prawns, plus more choices on the specials board (including the intriguing sounding New Zealand Volcano).

After much deliberation, we both chose the scallops al carbonara (£7.50) from the specials, which was truly scrumptious, with big fat juicy scallops, wrapped in parma ham served on a bed of rocket, with parmesan shavings and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

For the main course, there was a good selection of pizzas, pasta, meat, vegetarian and fish dishes.

I chose the monkfish (£14.95) which was superb – perfectly cooked, with a delicate flavour and served with prawns and mushrooms in a white wine sauce.

Jason went for the Filetto Rossini (£15.95) which, like my fish, came in a huge portion. The steak was about three inches thick, topped with pate and red wine sauce; Jason had asked for it to be medium-rare and was disappointed to find it overcooked but nevertheless thought the quality excellent.

Both dishes were served with saute potatoes, broccoli and carrots.

We decided to forgo the dessert menu, although it was very tempting, with dishes such as zabaglioni, crespelle pancakes with Grand Marnier sauce and Sicilian canolli.

The restaurant was very quiet on the day we visited, probably because it is a bit out of town, but evenings are very busy, and booking is essential on Saturday.

Our total bill came to £55 including drinks, but we did have the most expensive dishes on the menu; pizzas and pasta dishes are a more reasonable £6 to £8.

La Carbonara, Westcott Place, Swindon SN1 5HW

(01793) 527944

Open noon to 2.30pm, 6pm to 11.30pm

Limited car parking

No special children’s menu, but smaller portions at reduced rate

Takeaways available

Website www.lacarbonara-restaurant.co.uk

Limited disabled access

Our Eating Out is an independent review carried out by the Gazette without prior knowledge of the owners.

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