It has been one of Bristol’s most popular restaurant since the 1990s
San Carlo in Corn Street(Image: Jon Kent)
Harry Redknapp, Ray Winstone, Pavarotti and John Prescott – they’re all present and correct in the galleries of well-fed and well-refreshed celebrity customers plastering the walls at San Carlo.
This glamorous Italian restaurant in Corn Street, part of a hugely successful chain, has been one of Bristol’s busiest since the late 1990s and it still draws a crowd.
It’s also one of the few dining rooms where people make a bit more of an effort and actually dress up for a meal, rather than turn up in work-from-home attire.
And then there’s the glitzy room itself – a vast space with high ceilings, mirrored walls, candles and marble tables swathed in white linen cloths.
It’s a genuinely impressive setting for a meal and the sharp-suited waiting staff are well seasoned and eagle-eyed when it comes to the smallest details.
San Carlo remains one of Bristol’s special occasion restaurants, a place for a first date, perhaps, a family gathering or an important business lunch when the stakes are high.
And, yes, that does come at a certain price point and the need to have a certain bank balance (or expense account) if you’re really pushing the boat out, although there are plenty of pizza and pasta options that make it affordable to all.
But it was a warm and sunny Saturday evening when we visited, we were in a celebratory mood and there were new summer dishes on the menu to try.
At £17.95, a starter of prawn and avocado salad wasn’t exactly from the bargain basement but it was a generous portion for the price.
The prawn and avocado starter on the summer menu at San Carlo
It was packed with plenty of butterflied king prawns, chunks of avocado, juicy cherry tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, sliced red onion in a zesty lemon dressing and green olive pesto – on one of the warmest evenings of the year so far, it was a genuine taste of an Italian summer holiday on a plate.
Also good was the buffalo mozzarella and Parma ham salad (£16.95) with plenty of the two main ingredients, thick wheels of ripe beef tomatoes, rocket, pesto and a large crostini placed across the top of the salad.
From the huge selection of fish and shellfish, a large piece of turbot (£37.95) was beautifully cooked and bathed in a rich lemon and caper-studded butter sauce.
Best of the lot, however, was the veal chop with fresh Italian black truffle (£39.95), a new dish on the menu and one that is destined to be a best-seller this summer.
The veal chop and black truffles at San Carlo(Image: Bristol Live)
The thick, bone-in chop was the size of a good paperback book and cooked with real care, the delicately-flavoured meat as tender and juicy as any I have tasted, and the truffle adding a memorable additional layer of flavour.
I’ve been eating in San Carlo since it opened three decades ago and this meaty main was easily the best dish I’ve eaten in the restaurant in all that time – I’m still thinking about it a week later.
We also ordered the crisp and greaseless sautéed potatoes (£5.25) and the tenderstem broccoli with garlic and chilli (£6.75), both excellent.
To finish, slices of peach and almond cake (£9) and torta caprese – almond and chocolate cake (£9) – both with scoops of vanilla ice cream, were followed by complimentary shots of eye-poppingly strong limoncello.
In the three decades San Carlo has been open in Bristol, countless restaurants have opened and closed but this Italian veteran is still going strong and likely to outlive most of its competitors.
But I still can’t get that veal chop out of my head – I feel a return visit may be required this summer sooner than expected.
San Carlo, 44 Corn Street, Bristol, BS1 1HQ. Tel: 0117 9226586.