La Primavera Hungerford

Well did you know there was a wonderful Italian restaurant in Hungerford with its own pizza oven? It is at the bottom of Hungerford High Street and is so lovely inside, open fires, lots of little rooms, delightful staff and magnificent food.

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A picture of the inside, very well set out with open fires, secluded corners, very welcoming, clean and well decorated.

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One of the clientele, there was an interesting mix of people who appeared to be locals and diners who had driven there just for the food. Always a good sign in my thinking.

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A slightly blurred picture of my dining partner, Rachel, who isn’t really blurred although you would be forgiven for thinking that if you listen to the radio interview where I am trying to make sense of our conversation which is made totally in food stuffed laugh talk. Translating this is a true skill and does show how good the food was that neither of us could bear to waste a breath on talking when we could be eating.

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This was my starter of garlic bread with mozzarella and was totally garlicky and delicious. It was seriously garlicky but in a very good way, it shouted its flavour rather than whispered it, we are not talking gentle tones or notes we are talking about the best garlic bread ever screaming ‘eat me, eat me”. It could be used as a form of contraception, in fact why not buy some to take away and give it to your naughty teenage children while they are off school.

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Rachel’s calamari fritti, deep fried calamari with rocket and lemon aioli. Perfectly cooked calamari, tender squid with a crisp coating served with a lovely sauce which provided more garlic. We were going to be smelt long before we were seen for the next few days.

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I don’t think this photo does Rachel’s calzone justice. It was massive, like a giant pasty but made with the lightest dough and an incredible range of fillings which included a range of italian meats and cheeses. Delving in was like diving for treasure, ooh what would come out next on Rachel’s fork to face the world for a millisecond before diving into different depths.

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My main dish was superb, grilled rack of lamb cooked exactly in the way I asked for, rare. This was served with sauteed new potatoes and braised red cabbage and a scrummy red wine jus. This dish is the kind of thing I dream of every time I go on holiday to Thailand. I have no idea why but to me it is perfection. I love the meat when it is cooked perfectly like this, I love it if I am in a place where I feel able to pick all the meat off the bones and get every last morsel of juice off the plate.

There were specials on offer and dishes like stone baked sea bass and chicken al mattone with a beetroot salsa verde. There was also a wide range of pizzas from the pizza oven which I should have got a picture of. The pizza that the calzone was made of was perfect so I would be very happy to get any of their pizzas although they also do a great range of pasta including a very tempting lobster tortelloni.

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This was my pannacotta, isnt it cute with its tuile curl and range of fruits and sauces dotted around the outside, tasted great too.

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Rachel had ice cream which she said was good but I liked mine more, mwahahaha

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Rachel’s coffee, I don’t drink coffee or tea but just liked the stripe. Simple to please me!

Yes La Primavera is a great place to go to, the food was great, the service was lovely and the surroundings were beautiful. Weekday lunchtimes you will find a decent two course meal offered for £9.95

I didn’t pay for my food and these opinions are my own.

 

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