Peterborough Evening Telegraph's Mark Plummer's review, 26/11/10:
THERE'S nothing quite as dull as a packed lunch. Apart from living in the place called Boring, Oregon perhaps.
So after years of chomping through sorry sandwiches, cheap crisps and feeble
portions of fruit, I decided to think outside the (lunch) box.
It was time for a treat. It was time to upgrade my midday munchings. It was time to drop in to Fratelli Tavola Calda an
Aladdin's cave of finest Italian produce in the Rivergate Arcade.
The wonderful smells wafting from within have tantalised me on many a trip through that particular part of town. A delicatessen in one corner, a cake counter in another and walls stacked from floor to ceiling with the very best that Italy can offer provide informal and ideal surroundings for my mission.
And I did my good deed for the day (actually, make that year) by dragging resident sportsdesk scruffbag James Westgate along.
Now Westgate is the kind of chap who does miserable better than Meldrew. A previous editor once decreed his mug-shot too glum for a cheery 'Merry Christmas' message to our readers.
But the prospect of an Italian lunch at the end of a tough telephone slog cheered even our hardest-to-please colleague.
He even broke into a smile when our shared starter of bruschetta topped with generous helpings of tomatoes, garlic, onion and balsamic vinegar (£4.50) arrived.
The ciabatta bread was slightly on the crispy side for my personal taste, but it was still a smashing way to start. That was as good as it got though.
Despite an almightily extensive menu of pasta, pizza, carne (meat) offerings and salads, Westgate is clearly a creature of habit as he opted to order from the range of sandwiches, served on Italian bread and accompanied by chips and salad.
His prawn and avocado pick tipped the scales at £7 but unfortunately arrived
without seafood sauce, leaving the poor lad with a lunch drier than an Australian wicket.
That sort of price tag is steep for any sort of sandwich, let alone one missing a vital ingredient, but once furnished with sauce he munched happily and provided good feedback.
I went for the pizza marinara (mozzarella, tomato, garlic and mixed seafood tipping the scales at £7.50).
To avoid any unwanted salty surprises, I opted to play it safe with tuna and prawns as my toppings.
I would be lying if I said it was the finest pizza I've ever tucked into, but I couldn't have any complaints on the size or flavour fronts even if it did seem a little soggy in places.
With the service not exactly speedy, we had already exceeded our hour of freedom and had to resist any temptations to tackle dessert.
We still emerged heartily filled, refreshed by a couple of colas and just over £20 lighter following a decent deviation from the daily lunch grind, but we both agreed it could have been better. read more
