Just visited Ciao with my family of four. It's pretty local to us and recently opened so we thought we would give it a go to see if it would make the grade as a local restaurant/cafe we can reach on foot for the occasional family treat.
Simple but tasteful decor and a very welcoming waiter meant we felt right at home straight away. There's a wide selection on the menu; everything from standard Pizzeria fayre like pizzas and the usual pasta options. There were some interesting steak and chicken options too. For the casual diner there was a selection of sandwiches, paninis, toasties and jacket potatoes. And did I mention a full English breakfast for morning visitors? Clearly this restaurant is aiming to have something for everyone; breakfasts, light snacks with a cappuccino, full-blown italian dinners.
I opted for a Pizza and my wife went for the fresh minestrone soup. The children went for spag bol and a toastie respectively. For starters we went for a shared bruschetta and mixed olives.
First thing to say is that the portions were monumental; both the starters and the main courses. The starters were so filling that rather than whetting our appetites, we felt quite full before the mains arrived. My 5-year old's daughter's portion of spaghetti would have suited an adult. I couldn't finish my pizza and that is really saying something, if you knew the size my appetite.
Having said that the food was good and fresh and tasty. My wife really liked her soup and she's a harsh critic. It wasn't over-salted like so many soups these days and there was plenty of fresh ciabatta. The children loved their food too. My pizza was good, although a tad too oily for my taste. The base was perfect and the toppings excellent. I'd have preferred less cheese though. Also -it was far too big for large adult.
The service was wonderful and although it was busy, we felt well looked after by a very friendly and helpful waiter.
When the bill finally came I couldn't believe how cheap it was. For about £10 a head we'd had starters, main courses, wine, coffees and a couple of desserts. I was bowled over by this and felt compelled to leave a very decent tip.
We will definitely go again and maybe try the breakfast next time. It's a great home banker for a family - simple, good value, standard italian fayre - nothing fancy or original - but tasty and fresh.
My only real criticism is that they need to reduce the portions of pretty much everything. Otherwise they will probably go out of business before 6 months have gone by and we'll have lost a nice local reliable pizzeria/cafe - something we've long needed in this area of town. read more