Lovely Linda Loves Life: La Campagna Restaurant Review

It had been several months since I last ate out; an extraordinary occurrence for me as I usually eat out five or six times a week. So, on one of my few outings since lockdown in March, I was delighted to find that the pub at the top of the road to my village, on the A303, had in the meantime, been turned into an Italian restaurant, La Campagna.

Part of a chain of five in the South West, I was keen to see what was on offer as I had heard good reports of it.

This particular branch had only been open for two months, at a very tricky time for everyone involved in the hospitality industry. However, like many other businesses across the country they had been able to take advantage of the government ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme.

Open all day, which is a Godsend for me as I tend to want to eat at odd hours, two of us went for lunch.

Billing itself as providing the combination of a traditional pub-like atmosphere and an Italian brasserie, the interior was modern and spacious, with several comfy sofas for those not wanting to dine. They are making a good effort at coping with Covid restrictions, and the service is friendly, welcoming and helpful, particularly from managerial staff. Newly recruited staff seem less willing to engage with customers and would benefit from further training as menu knowledge was lacking and opportunities for upselling were missed. Staff in the kitchen also need to be aware that they can be seen by customers when using their mobile phones at their work stations.

The description on the La Campagna website is littered with superlatives, depicting an environment that does not quite deliver in reality. I have always believed that it is better to under-promise and over-deliver, rather than the reverse.

Describing the core menu as ‘exemplary’ seems a bit over the top, and I am not sure that the pizzas can accurately be described as ‘inventive’, or that there is an ‘exquisite array’ of desserts on offer; there is a wide choice, but all are pretty standard offerings.

There was an extensive range of cocktails, wines (mainly Italian), and other beverages available, but there seems to be some confusion in describing the wines as the ‘best wines of the Campagna regions of Italy’. Campagna is actually a small village in the Campania region. Overall, the wines on offer were pretty decent for this type of casual dining establishment, but I did notice that only one of the ‘fine white’ wines on the list is Italian; the rest are French.

Disappointingly, wines by the glass were not offered in 125ml. sizes, which is actually against Licensing regulations, and which I felt obliged to point out. Although I was then served with the size requested, on both occasions I was charged for the larger sized glass, although unfortunately I did not notice this until after leaving the restaurant..

A two-course lunch is available Mon. – Fri. from 12-3, at £13.95 (3 courses for £13.95). On offer was a choice of 5 starters, 9 main dishes and 4 puds.

Some items on the set lunch carried a supplement, which is a constant, and common, irritant for me.

On the plus side food was well presented and the cooking competent overall, but several of the dishes sampled lacked that extra something which makes a meal memorable.

The two set lunch dishes sampled were:

The Funghi all'aglio (v) - mushrooms cooked in garlic & butter sauce, served with toasted Tuscan bread was pleasant enough but the sauce was thin and the mushrooms lacked interest. On a second visit the sauce had much more flavour.

The Pizza Margharita (v) with ham and mushrooms, had good flavour but was a devil to cut. It would have been better to have cut it before serving.

From the à la carte menu the Calamari Fritti was decent enough, and thankfully not covered in thick batter, but the portion was quite small for £6.95.

The Capesante alla Fiorentina, pan fried king scallops, garlic wilted spinach, lemon butter sauce and lemon wedge, served with the coral attached, were delicious, but just two and a half were served and the muscle had not been trimmed properly. I felt this was poor value for money at £10.95.

On a second visit, several other dishes were sampled.

The Bruschetta, with black olives, tomato and basil on toasted foccaccia proved to be a hearty portion, and was notable for its good flavours at £6.95

The Fritto Misto, a lightly fried combination of tiger prawns, calamari and scallop (just one!) with a salad garnish and lemon and garlic mayonnaise was fairly pedestrian for £8.95.

The most disappointing dish sampled was the Avocado Primavera, which at £7.50 was comprised of mixed salad leaves, avocado, tomato, cucumber, red onions and prawn cocktail. Sadly, the dish was badly let down by poor quality prawns and inferior cocktail sauce.

On carrying out a price comparison for similar dishes offered by other comparable chains (ASK, Zizzi, Prezzo) it seems that the pricing at La Campagna is just about right.

Despite my comments, this was not a poor experience; the cooking overall was sound, and I shall return, if for no other reason than that I want to encourage any restaurant or bar on my doorstep that can provide reasonable quality food at reasonable prices. The jury is still out.