Amici, the Italian restaurant on Cheltenham Road in Bristol is a veritable institution having been around for many years, styling itself as a ristorante pizzeria We have enjoyed eating there since being students more than a decade ago and getting take out every now and then we when have nothing in the house or simply can’t be bothered to cook. It is not too long under new management and through a variety of diary mishaps ended up with MT visiting and a house devoid of anything that could easily become a decent meal. After some negotiation (TB wanted Chinese take out – but it as closed) we ended up at Amici.
While over the years the outside has had a spruce up, the interior has steadfastly remained unchanged. The look is supposed to evoke being on the terrace outside a rustic Italian building. If you close you eyes and squint you can just about see it, but it is ageing badly and the rough plaster is a dust trap that is discolouring. The dead animal heads and the painted boards advertising desserts long since not offered complete the look. The quality of the food and service has always been reasonable making ideal as a drop in back up. Sadly our latest visit suggests it has taken a nose dive.
The three of us ambled in and a waitress vaguely waved at another waitress and told us she would seat us before going to chat with the barman. The other waitress clearly was not aware of this as she carried on in her own world until shouted at by the first one. Service was slow, such that when we received our drinks (which were not correct the first time and had to be changed – so much for memory instead of an order pad) we pointed told the waitress we were ready to order.
First course we shared Garlic Bread with Cheese and Foccaccia Florentina. Both were pizza bases (which are not foccaccia last time I checked) . The garlic bread was swimming in oil and soggy with mozzarella and no discernible garlic taste. The foccaccia is billed as being home-baked bread with rosemary, rock salt and sliced onions, what arrived was a pizza base with a sparse covering of rosemary, a heavy dose of salt and no onions. Not bad, but dry!.
In a complete change of pace the main courses arrived before we had finished the starter. MT had Tagliatelle Veneto, tagliatelle pasta with a chicken and mushroom cream sauce. The plate that arrived had a grey pile on it, a starchy mixture of pasta and sauce surprisingly light on chicken. TB had Mushroom Risotto (not a vegetarian dish despite the name as it is apparently made with pancetta). Another grey pile, looking not dissimilar to what MT had very light on flavour, heavy on salt and containing pancetta which looked remarkably like bacon, rather the traditional pancetta.
I had opted for the lasagna which was also a total disappointment depressingly lacking in the flavour. The pasta was well cooked, but the lasagna slice was placed in a bowl and drowned in a watery ragu with odd bits of mince swimming in it. It was lacking in both tomato and herbs and needed to be reduced and thickened. The meat content between the sheets was minimal, probably a mercy as it appeared that it had just been boiled in the dishwater ragu that the dish was drowned in.
We left feeling that we had all had far too much salt and not much of a meal. Amici has been scratched from the reliable standby list. Sad after such a long relationship.
Note that the website is very out of date and the menu and prices have significantly changed.
Amici
237-239 Cheltenham Road
Bristol
BS6 5QP
0117 924 5879
Food: 3
Décor: 3
Service: 4
Cost: £16 per head, for two courses and a soft drink
Date: 3 May 2011
Note: There is no disabled access to the toilets.
Naked Lunch 