Review: Papa’s, Poulton-le-Fylde

9:51pm Monday 23rd June 2008

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AN office leaving party led a group of ten of us to Poulton restaurant Papa's for a farewell meal of what is billed as modern Italian food.

The restaurant bar has a minimalist feel and is a pleasant area to enjoy a pre-meal drink.

We visited at the peak time of 8pm on Saturday and the restaurant was almost full, with several large parties.

Because of this, once we were seated, we waited a while for our orders to be taken, although appetisers of plain, tomato and mozzarella garlic bread were brought promptly.

My starter of flash fried squid with tartare sauce was a generous portion.

The rings of squid were obviously fresh and avoided the common pitfall of being chewy and the freshly made sauce was the ideal accompaniment.

A starter of chicken pate with crostini toast was an intensely flavoured dish of very smooth and creamy chicken livers.

One disappointment was the funghi al'aglio, which was creamy sliced mushrooms in a garlic and cream sauce served in a filo pastry basket.

It was declared 'insipid' and not a patch on the more traditional larger mushrooms stuffed with breadcrumbs and garlic butter.

Main courses were largely consistent, with excellent, very large thin crust pizzas a speciality of the house.

Among the more unusual pizza toppings on offer were roast duck and smoked salmon with cream cheese, the latter of which was heralded as 'much, much, better than it sounds'.

The filleto courvoisier, was a first class cut of steak, cooked medium rare as ordered, with a cognac infused sauce and fresh chips.

The house red wine was a meduim bodied merlot and was reasonably priced at £10.95.

Papa's also offers draught and bottled beers including Stella and Peroni.

How did it fare? (out if six stars): Food **** Drink **** Service *** Atmosphere **** Value ****