Put your hand to your lips, and then give your most exaggerated Italian kiss. That’s ‘al bacio’, something our waiter likened to describing the beauty of a Ferrari.
The same waiter also did some magic tricks to keep my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter occupied for a few precious minutes, making a coin appear in front of her eyes to genuine wonderment.
I don’t often mention front of house staff, but here at Al Bacio they deserve praise; like the restaurant itself bringing a slice of Italian charm and sophistication to this corner of Bristol.
Formally a Lebanese restaurant, Al Bacio now offers a substantial Italian menu, with starters the likes of crostino al salmone (toasted bread with salmon pate and prawns), antipasti of salsiccia, peperoni and finocchietto (traditional Italian sausages grilled with peppers and fennel seeds), pasta, risotto, pizzas and some choice Italian desserts.
It’s in the ‘secondi’ section where the more substantial dishes can be found, such as veal filled with smoked parma ham and 9 oz fillet steak served with brandy and green pepper sauce.
If restaurants can be likened to novels, I chose the titular character – a white pizza, slathered in generous slithers of potatoes, with mozzarella, scamorza cheese and peppers.
Prices here are extremely reasonable – at least in BS8 – with pizzas hovering around the £7 mark.
A real draw of Al Bacio is an outside area which in the heat wave we have just experienced took on an almost tropical feel thanks to its palm trees, which on the Tuesday evening that I visited were bathed in dappled sunlight.
Al Bacio, 95 Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LW Bristol. 0117 973 9734.
