A superb taste – Metro review
Taken from Metro 11 March 2009, written by Claire Ogden
Aqua ✭✭✭✭✭
The time it took for new Italian restaurant Aqua to start being busy after it opened five weeks ago was barely long enough to make an espresso.
Occupying the tall 200-year-old townhouse vacated last year by Colleys Supper Rooms, it replaced dusty, chintz-stifled perma-gloom with a crisp, Kevin McCloudian brilliance that locals couldn’t wait to bask in. Vast glass windows open up the white-walled, walnut-floored dining room, where chunky chairs and smartly modern banquettes are upholstered in discreet shades of pale blue, lemon and lime. Tables at the back and on the mezzanine floor feel self-contained and cosy, and the mosaic-tiled bar offers an elegant perch for sipping a glass of the excellent prosecco (£4.75) while you wait for your table. And wait. And then wait some more.
Just as we were starting to get twitchy, (we booked for 9pm on a Friday night, and sat down at 9.35pm), our table became free, was re-set in a matter of seconds, and we fell gratefully on a basket of fluffy ciabatta and denser slices of caramelised onion bread (£1.95).
This is the third Aqua in the mini- chain established in Bristol a decade ago (a second branch opened in Bath in 2007) and the well-considered menu offers a broad sweep of dishes from all over Italy. Pastas and pizzas mostly come in under £12; mains and sides set you back quite a bit more. The wine list tops out at £85, but most bottles are far more reasonably priced; our light, minerally Frascati Superiore Terre Dei Grifi from Fontana Candida (£15.95) was particularly noteworthy.
To start, three supple pan-fried scallops with dense, savoury lentils and a single strip of crispy pancetta (£7.95) were rich, creamy and comforting, although the pancetta to scallop ratio wasn’t quite right. A generous plate of faultless bresaola (£7.50), served at the correct temperature, was dressed with rocket, Parmesan and a luxurious drizzle of truffle oil.
Like the scallops, my main course of grilled swordfish (£13.75) was gleaming, fresh and expertly cooked. Dressed in fragrant Sicilian style with rosemary, lemon juice, garlic and black pepper, the zingy flavour of this bright white fillet smacked me in the mouth with pleasurable gusto. A side order of al dente green beans (£2.95) was perfectly seasoned. My friend’s main course, an enormous braised lamb shank (£12.95) fell to pliant pieces when poked with a fork, the meat sweet and juicy. The same great flavour was even more concentrated in the rich accompanying gravy, and the whole thing sat on golden chunks of herb-flecked polenta like a king atop his throne.
After inquiring about ice cream for pudding – the menu claimed it was Italian, but the waitress said it was from Marshfield Farm, which is disappointingly misleading – I had crema di amaretto e mascarpone (£4.95), a billowing pile of boozy, almond-strewn, cream-softened mascarpone submerged in a shiny puddle of Italian honey. My friend’s ‘rich hazelnut and chocolate fudge cake’ (£5.25) was neither rich nor fudgy, but open-textured and nuttily moreish all the same. An espresso and a macchiato (£1.60) were, as you would hope, perfect.
Overall the food at Aqua is so good that I didn’t really mind waiting so long for it. Service was friendly, efficient and just a little rushed, though that’s hardly surprising given how busy the place was, and at least the atmosphere was buzzing and lively. Opening a new restaurant in the middle of financial Armageddon might seem like a silly idea to many, but I sincerely hope Aqua weathers the storm.
