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Fat Leo's offers a set menu
deal of £5.95 for two courses and £7.95
for three courses; and this really put me off at first.
I'd assumed that anything so cheap must either offer
tiny portions or disgusting quality. But then a colleague
mentioned that she'd been, and was really impressed,
and I decided to give it a go.
Impressed doesn't begin to cover it! Fat Leo's is tucked
away into a tiny adjunct to the Lanes, but inside it's
large but intimate. Tables and chairs are grouped with
plenty of space in between, and despite the cheap prices,
there's a chrome, pine and glass vibe with gives the
venue a modern feel, while low lighting and candles
provide a cosy tone and avoid the over-sanitised soulessness
produced by some modern decor.
The staff were friendly and attentive, but informal,
and the restaurant was busy even though it was a tuesday
night, so I'd recommend booking in advance. Fat Leo's
is owned by the same people who do Donatello's and Pinocchio's,
but whilst these have become too big for their own good,
Fat Leo's retains its uniqueness and charm. For a starter
I had melanzane rotolo (thinly sliced sautéed
aubergine layered with tomato sauce and fontana cheese
topped with mozzarella cheese), one of five vegetarian
options. It was huge - as large as a main meal - and
I gave it 10/10 for taste. Rhandolph had cocktail di
gamberetti (prawns served on a bed of lettuce with a
horseradish and marie rose sauce) which was also massive
and left him thoroughly satisfied. For your main you
can choose from pizza, pasta, salad, or meat or fish
for an extra £2.50. It's an extra £2 after
6.30pm on a saturday, also, but at these prices you
can't really quibble. I was also pleased to see that
the drinks menu wasn't ridiculously expensive to subsidise
the food, either. Rhandolph had a half bottle of a very
acceptable italian house red for £5.55, and I
had a coke for £1.25 and a pina colada (not that
nice actually but I've never had this drink before so
I don't have anything to compare it with), for £4.95,
which for a cocktail with two shots of booze in it,
in a restaurant, is very good value.
For my main dish I had a capricciosa pizza (tomato,
mozzarello cheese, artichokes, mushrooms, egg and peppers),
which was nice enough but not quite as outstanding as
the starter. It matched up to any other pizza I've had
in other restaurants or pubs though. Rhandolph had gnocchi
gorgonzola e noci (potato dumplings in a blue cheese
and walnut sauce) which he gave the big thumbs up to.
Both of us were far too stuffed after two hugely generous
courses to manage a pudding, but we could have chosen
from classic tiramisu, simple ice-cream, or coppa FAT
leo - chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream topped with
chocolate sauce and whipped cream; amongst other choices.
Yum. Also, the loos were very nice, which is always
a plus when you're going out to eat.
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