Boboli, Kibworth Beauchamp

We arrived in glorious early evening June sun and chose to sit outside. The waiter was great and didn’t mind coming back at least three times because we’d been gossipping and hadn’t actually looked at the menu. In that time however, we did manage to order drinks – in homage to our recent trip to Valencia in Spain we both drank Estrella Damm Lemon – so good for warm evenings! It’s a shandy so its refreshing and a good option for drivers but still like drinking a beer. 

We really couldn’t decide what we wanted to eat and in the end I went for an odd choice for me – Cannelloni con scamorza e salsa pomodoro. Clearly I made the wrong choice. I appreciate that presentation of cannelloni / lasagna/ pies can be tricky but my dish looked as though it had come from the local 2 for £10 pub and actually cost £13.95. The cannelloni was OK but I found the filling (minced pork, beef and pancetta) had an odd flavour and I didn’t finish the dish (not a common occurrence). The pasta itself was well made though and the tomato sauce was flavourful if not a little bland. 

For her main, Vicky chose the Orecchiette, broccoletti e gamberetti. It was a better dish than my own but again, she didn’t finish it. The prawns were big and juicy and it was a generous portion but again, there was a finesse missing. The sauce was greasy and the chili was cut in varying sizes from tiny slithers to almost whole bits – blowing your head off! I think for the price (£14.50) tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli would have looked better than small florets of standard broccoli too. 

To accompany our mains we ordered a rocket and Parmesan salad. It was nice – but then there isn’t too much to go wrong is there? We decided against puddings so we asked for the bill, waited for around 10 mins, asked again, waited another 5 mins then asked someone different. Paid and left. All in all, a mixed bag which started well but fizzled out to a bit of a flat ending. 

Since leaving, I’ve discovered they are part of Great Food Club which just added to my annoyance – I hadn’t thought to check and we could have benefited from a discount on what we felt was an expensive bill – around £55 from memory.  

Have you eaten there? What has your experience been? I’d like to go back as I’ve only ever heard nice things but perhaps next time we’ll stick to pizza?