Going out for a meal to celebrate a friend’s birthday, this hidden gem of a small, family-run Italian restaurant, located right opposite the Broadway cinema in the Hockley area of the city centre, was a great experience.
The staff were warm and welcoming, the atmosphere intimate and enchanting, the smallness of the room with wooden tables and chairs adding to this inviting effect.
The first aspect of the restaurant that drew us in were the big chalkboard signs that were lying against the walls of the entrance. Seeing that they served profiteroles, although not the most Italian of dishes, was enough to know that we were making the right choice to spend our evening there.
“It took me a while to understand what it is that I wanted to order, to the point that I had to google the definition of various words.”
Another aspect of the room that I appreciated were the photos of diners on some of the walls, enjoying themselves, adding to a sense of community to the place. There were a wide spread of choices on the menu, the typical Italian pizza and pasta dishes being the most tempting. The prices of the meals were reasonable for a student to pay, and the standard to that of most quality restaurants. I can’t lie, it took me a while to understand what it is that I wanted to order, to the point that I had to google the definition of various words.
After finally finding out that Neapolitan sauce was merely just a basic tomato based sauce, I decided to opt for the linguini pasta and pesto sauce that it came with. I, nonetheless, requested for the lighter meal (just because I didn’t have much of an appetite), at £7.95, I was happy with my choice. Once it arrived it tasted incredible, so fresh and moreish, sadness arising as soon as I saw I had cleared my plate. It was good value for money, the portion size big enough to make me feel full.
There was, at that point, no way that I could manage a dessert, however, I was slightly lamenting the decision not to opt for the gorgeous looking Tiramisu my friend had ordered. With happy people sitting around me, all content with their choices, a range of pizza, pasta and lighter salads on our table, we left feeling fulfilled and appreciative of how tasty the meals we had were.
The only thing that I would change in their style of service was that the pizzas 2 friends ordered were not already cut into slices, and no sharp knife or pizza cutter came was given to them upon their arrival. Eventually, after the requests, the waitress granted them with their wishes.
Heading off to the beloved Coco Tang afterwards, Dolce provided us girls with a night of pure bliss, a place where you could drift off to an authentic Italian world at every mouthful.
Olivia Morel
Featured image courtesy of Dolce via Facebook.
Article images courtesy of Olivia Morel.
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