Reigate

Appearances can be deceptive, can’t they?
Take the plump Castelvetrano olives that arrived at the beginning of our meal, for example. Fresh from Sicily, they looked so inviting, like little fat Bramley apples. But they were so dull, so insipid, so devoid of the tart, bitter tang that goes so beautifully with a glass of cold, crisp Sauvignon Blanc they made for an anticlimactic start to the meal.

Fortunately things improved. Everything that was so bland about the olives was rectified by the wonderful Schiacciatella Aglio flatbread. Salty, crispy, brushed with butter and studded with baby bunches of fresh, pungent rosemary, we devoured this bread. We could have eaten more.
The olives now a distant memory, buried by the sensational flatbread, the Antipasto arrived.
The black olive tapenade was average, a slight improvement on the green olives, but nowhere near flavourful enough. The mozzarella, tomato and basil salad was, as ever, a classic combination, but I would have preferred a tastier tomato. The bruschetta was good, with nicely charred bread, but I would have preferred for the tomatoes to be diced finer, and to have a smaller serving. Bruschetta is perfect as a light, fresh starter, easily ruined by serving up a huge plateful of tomatoes. I would have liked a bit more of a kick to the salami but the Parma ham was good, dusky and subtle.

We moved on and things continued to improve. A Risotto Zucca with butternut squash, pumpkin, pine nuts and pancetta was agreeable, although I would have liked more butter and parmesan to be involved. The pancetta was lovely and salty, perched on top of the risotto to preserve its crispiness.
The Strozzapreti Pugliese was one of the highlights. The pasta was perfectly al-dente, stirred up with a meaty combination of sausage and pancetta, offset by fresh broccoli florets. What made the dish for me was the heat of the chopped chilli, it’s wonderful to order a dish that promises chilli and actually get one. Like the superb flatbread, I would order this again in a heartbeat. It was addictive.

The Quattro Stagioni pizza was nicely cooked, with a decent base and good tomato sauce. But the toppings were dreary. The Luganica sausage worked far better in the pasta, when it had the sharp chilli to slice through the fattiness. The roasted artichoke, ham and mushrooms were all fine, but all three could have used a little help, perhaps a generous brush of garlic butter towards the end. As it was, the “four fabulous pizzas in one” tasted a little plain. But then again, I am a sucker for a pepperoni pizza.

The next two dishes were both hits. The Saltimbocca Maiale was excellent. Pork is a commonly used substitute for veal in saltimbocca, and this was handled well and not overcooked. The sauce was deep and rich, although the mashed potato could have used perkier seasoning. The green beans had retained enough of a crunch to keep them interesting.
The Orata Al Forno was also excellent, a firm, meaty seabream served with some good crispy potatoes. There was a delicious tangy lemony dressing on the salad. This was really enjoyable and it was lovely to see the fish served whole, with its head on.

The puddings came next. First, Affogato, an iced nougat ice cream which arrived with a shot of expresso to pour over the top. I drank it separately, the Affogato was so good on its own. Light, rich and creamy. The Pistachio ice cream was also very good, delicious and light and a wonderful pale green colour.
The third pudding, though, was outstanding. It would be hard to choose my favourite dish of the evening, there are a few contenders. But the Bunet Piemontese could be it. It was sensational. Described as “similar to a pannacotta” it was less rigid, a wonderfully thick custardy mix of chocolate, hazelnut and crushed amaretti biscuits. Even better, it came drenched in Amaretto liqueur. This wasn’t just the best pudding of the night, it is up there as one of the best puddings of all time. I loved this and the next time I go to Strada, I’m ordering it.

And so, what started so ignominiously with insipid, watery olives ended with a stunning, must-order pudding. And there were plenty of highlights in between, notably the flatbread, the strozzapreti pasta and the pork saltimbocca.

The Italian chain restaurant market is a crowded one. There are five in Reigate alone, so Strada has its work cut out. But, with some excellent dishes on offer, combined with a nice relaxed atmosphere and friendly and efficient service, there was enough on show here to suggest it can more than fight its corner.

I was pleasantly surprised after my visit to the Reigate Strada, the service and food was much improved since my last 2 visits over the last couple of years.

The 2 lady waitresses that we had were both very smiley and friendly. Not sure if that was because we were there reviewing….. I hope not!

The 3 starters were all very nice, and tasty.
Out of the 5 main courses, the pasta was a let down, and this is the meal I had had previously at Strada and was equally disappointed. The sausage meat really does seem of very poor quality and the pasta itself just seems tasteless and just not something I would ever order again. The pizza was cooked very nicely and was tasty. The sausage on the pizza (whilst the same in the pasta) actually tasted better and was formed in bigger lumps of meat too which potentially helped?
The Risotto I wasnt a huge fan of but that is more personal taste more than anything. I thought the pork and fish dishes were lovely and not something I would have probably ordered but the mash with the pork was very nice, the pork was a tad dry but the flavour was very nice.
I am not a huge dessert fan, but my other half enjoyed a taste of all of them, and I did try the pistachio icecream which was lovely!

Overall since returning to Strada I would recommend it on both food and service but would advise not to have that pasta dish. I do hope the service was on par with what they would normally offer, because when we had been previously the service really had put us off.

Thank you for the oppotunity to review for you and I look forward to returning.

I visted Reigate Strada to sample the tasting menu, I brought with me one guest.

However we under estimated the large portions and as a result sampled everything with finishing a complete meal. We sampled between 1/4 and 1/2 of each dish offered.

As soon as I walked into Reigate Strada I was greeted and seated immediately, the restaurant although fairly empty was clean and the staff welcoming, our coats were taken and we were given the drinks menu to browse. After we placed our drinks order the drinks were bought promptly and we were bought the first selection of Olives and Breads both myself and my guest agreed that the olives especially were exceptional quality and the garlic bread too was very nice with a taste of garlic that wasn’t overbearing.

Next came the Antipasto this was a huge selection and all of it delicious ham and the cheese in particular was very fresh, the portion was huge and we had in fact asked for a smaller potion in view that we had a rather large menu to taste and the waitress told us that this was in fact a smaller portion as requested so a very good and filling portion size.

We then sampled the Pasta which again was very good and the Risotto Zucca which was simply devine and quite simply we both agreed was the best Risotto we had ever tried, I could have happily ate the whole plate but I knew we had pork and sea bream left to try so reluctantly I left half the dish.

As someone who is not a fan of Pork this was the dish I was least looking forward to trying but I did and was pleasantly suprised at how nice it was so another winner for Reigate Strada.

The next dish was Sea Bream which did contain bones but the flavour was there and again it was enjoyable. I particulary liked the choice of vegetables which accompanied both of these main dishes aswell.

Feeling very full and again with attentive waitress service we tasted the final course.

Afffogato, Bunest Piemontese and Pistachio ice cream were all brought out to sample. Out of the 3 the Bunet Piemontese was our least favourite with the Affogato and Pistachio being are joint favourites here they were both exceptional.

n conclusion visiting Reigate Strada has been a wonderful experience the food has been continuously of high quality and well presented, the staff attentive and friendly, the restaurant clean and the hot food was always served on warm plates (something I feel is important when dining in a restaurant).

A huge thank you and congratulations to Reigate Strada for pulling out all the stops here and making the whole tasting experience such an enjoyable one.