Pesce Azzurro

Tuesday, June 28th, 2016

Reviewed by Linda Curling

A friend invited me to join her for supper at Pesce Azurro a week ago with the comment "don't hold it against me if it's a disaster", which prompted me to google some reviews. Well, forewarned is forearmed, and I'm happy to say that we walked in saying "buona sera" with an attitude of acceptance, and we had a lovely evening. They must also be doing something right to have a full restaurant on a cold Monday evening in winter in Cape Town, without any "winter special". Or maybe the negative reviews have made them up their game a bit. Wanting just a relatively quick meal, we didn't try any of the starters although we wondered if we should have ordered something to keep us going if the service turned out to be as slow as some patrons have reported. Thankfully, despite the number of other guests there was no unreasonable delay. Disappointingly the homemade pasta was not interchangeable for the pasta in other dishes on the menu, but the reviews had somewhat forewarned us that the chef might have an uncompromising attitude. Nonetheless our waitress sweetly told us that if it were up to her she would arrange it. My friend tried in vain to get homemade pasta instead of chips with her Calamari alla Griglia, and rather reluctantly settled for grilled vegetables instead; these turned out to be an excellent choice: nicely grilled slices of aubergine, peppers and squash, beautifully presented and garnished. I was perfectly satisfied with my Spaghetti Scoglio, (although I would have loved homemade pasta!!) which was palatable enough for those who are scared off by too much chilli. Unfortunately, the cannoli was unavailable for dessert that night (and not on the website menu at time of writing) so we decided to share a portion of tiramisu, described as Grandma's recipe; after the high standard of the meal, we found this disappointing; it was a smallish portion served in a whisky-sized glass, and the flavour was a bit insipid. However the coffees were good. We will definitely return for a repeat visit, and I look forward to trying the cannoli next time.