Enjoyable evening with Latino style (From The Bolton News)

Enjoyable evening with Latino style

11:34am Friday 8th May 2009 in

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IT doesn’t seem too long ago that I was a regular at my local, the Royal Oak at Bradshaw, on a Friday night and I was quite miffed when I learned that it was closing, to be brought back to life as a restaurant.

I just hoped that it would be a decent restaurant, but I need not have worried. Latino Lounge Restaurant and Wine Bar is my kind of relaxed place — stylish, casual, friendly and unpretentious. And the food isn’t half bad, either. I’ve eaten there several times in the past year or so and I haven’t been disappointed on any occasion by anything, with the ever-friendly staff always eager to please without being sycophantic.

My latest visit came on a Friday evening when I was accompanied by my partner and an old friend who had turned up from London.

The table was booked for 8pm and we were whisked to our seats immediately upon our arrival, although we could have enjoyed a drink at the bar first if we had so wished. We started with drinks — two pints of lager and a glass of the house rose — at the table as we studied the menu and board specials. Latino’s offers a great mix of Italian/Meditteranean dishes. From the start we decided to push the boat out and do the “full monty”, with starters, mains and desserts. Between the three of us we opted for deep fried brie (£5.70), funghi ripieni, mushrooms stuffed sun dried tomatoes, cheese and garlic (£5.20) and parma ham with melon (£6.50) .

The brie, two largish wedges accompanied by a sweet cherry dip, should only be tackled by those with a serious appetite, but they proved no problem for the lady in the group.

My mushroom dish in a light tomato sauce was ridiculously tasty and the parma ham and melon got the thumbs up from my friend more used to dining out in swanky London eateries.

For mains, I chose the Spaghetti Carbonara (£7.20) from the specials board, my partner plumped for the seafood Spaghetti Casanostra (£9.90). The London visitor decided on Calzone (£7.50). All three dishes hit the spot, particularly the Casanostra which was declared to be “bloody gorgeous”. If spaghetti is not your thing, there are many alternatives, with chicken, steaks, duck and fish often on the menu. By this time we decided on more beers and a bottle of house rose (£13.50).

I again went for my favourite of Crepes Au Chocolate (£4.50), a melt-in-the-mouth concoction of pancakes, chocolate sauce and ice cream that never fails to please, the lady went for French Creme Broulee (£4.20) which was declared to be light and delicious and London friend plumped for apple crumble and custard (£4.20) which left him smiling. The bill came to about £95, reasonable for the amount of food and drink we consumed.

At the end of an enjoyble evening we wobbled more than walked home. There are cheaper restaurants around, but few with the quality of food, the buzz and friendliness of Latinos. We like it.