Casa Roni is one of those places you either know about, or have driven past many a time without even realising.
The Italian restaurant is on Mather Avenue, on the corner of Heath Road and you can’t quite appreciate what’s behind its doors until you step inside. A warm welcome was just the start of what ended up being a thoroughly enjoyable family afternoon meal.
We’d booked for 4pm on a Sunday and arrived to find the venue around half full with people and chatter. We were offered a choice of sitting upstairs or down, and decided to go for the loftier option.
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Inside is really beautiful - upstairs is actually a mezzanine level so you get an impressive view of the restaurant below and the wooden beams across the ceiling and pretty lighting make you feel like you’re in a countryside wedding venue.
The food was equally as enjoyable and we started with Cheese Garlic Bread (£5.45) to share, which was a pizza style bread and they certainly didn’t scrimp on the cheese or garlic, with the whole thing covered in the gooey topping.
For mains the kids tucked into huge bowls of penne pasta with a bolognese sauce, which was so tasty I couldn’t help but pick at it myself while I waited for mine to arrive. None of the food took long to come and the service was efficient and welcoming throughout.
For the main course, my husband and I both ordered the Crab and Lobster Ravioli (£14.95), and again they didn’t scrimp on the portion size. It came beautifully presented with Masterchef style blobs and a piece of rosemary as decoration.
The pasta was freshly made and cooked al dente, just the way I like it. Each piece of ravioli was stuffed with a good amount of crab and lobster, so every mouthful was hugely satisfying and it was covered, but not overpoweringly so, with a delicious creamy red pesto sauce.
What I also liked about the dish was that it was topped with fresh rocket and herbs - I could definitely taste dill - which gave a fresh, peppery flavour to what was a really quite rich dish.
I didn’t think I’d have room for dessert, until I spied the Affogato on the menu, which is one of my favourites. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a Baileys (which I requested instead of Amaretto) to pour over the top, and a whole shot of espresso. The creamy ice cream, coupled with the alcohol from the liqueur and the strong coffee was the perfect pick me up after such a rich meal.
My husband was equally as impressed with his Tiramisu, although he found it more of a spongy cake texture than he’s had in the past. Meanwhile the kids fell silent for once as they polished off their strawberry ice creams, which came in pretty sundae glasses.
By the time we left Casa Roni, even more people had arrived, mostly families, but also couples young and old. It’s got a real neighbourhood vibe and I had the feeling that those who come here once, end up returning time and time again. I know it certainly won’t be our last visit.
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