Rome

What O! Last night was delightfully spent in the company of Mr Grinch, K and R. We were being treated to a meal that R was paying for out of her very own newly acclaimed wealth. What a marvellous treat,one to be remembered for ever! As R is new to the restaurant scene Mr Grinch decided that she should book for us at Rome. (Do book especially if you want to sit in the garden as this place can get very full in the evenings) The weather was warm and perfectly calm, ideal for a meal on the veranda. We ordered a bottle of wine, scoured the menu, made our desions,sat back and relaxed into conversation. As none of us wanted a starter we went straight to main. K had baked pasta with chicken and bacon, R went for prawn and calamari and the Grinch decided on mamas meatballs. After I recovered from the shock of Mr Grench not eating the usual canaloni which he swears by and would bet on, I ordered the calamari having done so on a previously, memorable evening with friends from the UK. A word of warning here - the food does take long, so if you are hungry treat yourself or the table to a starter. The calamari and the prawn and calamri comes with a choice of veg or salad. And Yes, you guessed it. Once again the veg of the day was butternut and spinach. What happend to carrots, peas, beans,etc. (Can someone who's rich please sue the Keg for starting this boring and unimaginative trend)so obviously both of us decided on the salad, the salad is a real salad, with feta and a lot more than lettuce and tomato. Everyone of us smacked our lips and licked our chops. K and Mr Grinch who both have bird like appertites could not finish their food but took the rest home. Mr Grinch commented that the sauce over the meatballs was a little too sweet for his palate, the meatballs themselves though were moist and excellent. K declared her meal to be a winner, the cheese topping was real cheese,the kind you can pull, R and I cleaned our plates. The chips that came with my meal were in my opinion good, not flowery or old old. K who tasted the chips did not like them, in her opinion they were doughey? How can a chip be doughey? Anyway the calamari is "melt in the mouth" and is recommendable. My only complaint is that when we were there in December the portion was so huge I could not finish it. It was in deed a meal for two. This time round it was half the portion size and a meal for only one. Hmmmm, maybe they had run out of calamari or maybe the first experience was a loss on their part and a gain on mine. Consistancey in portion size as well as quality is very NB. As this was a treat everyone excluding me ( As my figure will at this stage not permit it) partook in Pud. Mr Grinch had the lemon merangue - gobble, gobble gone. In his words.."perfect". R had the pecan pie which she found a bit sweet, that however did not deter her from making sure the plate was licked clean. K went for pavlova expecting it to be a bit like the one at Old Austria but she was a tad dissapointed, it more like merangue with canned berries thrown over it in haste than a "worth putting on the kg kinda pud" Don't choose this. It's the only thing so far that we have found on the Rome menu that is not worth its weight in gold. The lass who served us was extremely attentative, so far the best waitron we have had. Rome is a PE favourite. You can always be assured that your meal will be good(excluding the pavlova, of course). The prices are reasonable, you can easly afford a bottle of wine. It is as advertised, 'great food with great variety'. Mr Grinch and I have eaten there on numerous occassions and we have never ever been dissapointed in the food. Yes it does take long to come but it is worth the wait. Obviously, we will be finding an excuse to go back asap.