Trying Out The Midweek Special At Sandros Italian In Clowne
Published On Sunday 16 Oct 2022 by Sticky Beak
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Never let it be said that there’s no purpose to mindless scrolling through Facebook; if His Nibs hadn’t been doing just that, he wouldn’t have seen the midweek offer from Sandro’s Italian in Clowne: 3 courses and a drink of your choice for £18 per person. The menu was pretty good too; 5 starters, 7 pizzas or 11 pasta dishes for mains and 4 desserts.
Located just off J30 M1, Clowne is easily accessible to those travelling from further away. There is a small amount of on-road parking but it was all taken, so we drove a little further to a car park (a free one, btw) and then walked the 2 minutes back to the restaurant. The best tip I can give you is to look for the Red, White and Green painted bricks (the colours of the Italian flag) that denote Sandro’s – the door is to the left - otherwise you just see the bigger signage of the Indian restaurant next door.
Inside, Sandro’s goes back further than it hints at from the kerb and probably seats about 40-50 people. You get the feeling that you’re dining in an Italian Trattoria as you cross the threshold, albeit one on the high-end of this more informal dining setting. The curtains, like the outside brickwork, echo the colours of the Italian flag, as do the pelmet and tie-backs. The walls are a warm, striking claret colour and prints of landscapes and scooters provide visual interest. We were seated midway up the restaurant and all the tables are set with red and white gingham cloths and glasses that house either white or red napkins.
There is no restriction on the drink you can have (any glass of wine or bottle of lager), so Mummy Bird had Pinot Grigio, I had Chianti and The Man Bird had a Peroni. The prices on the wine list are very reasonable, by any standard: wines are between £15 and £16.50 a bottle, Prosecco is £18.50 a bottle and all the lagers are £3.50 – even an Aperol Spritz is only £6.50.
Mummy Bird had the Sautéed Garlic Mushrooms to start, I had the Baked Aubergine in Tomato Sauce, and His Nibs went for the Cheese-filled Pancake. You get a good portion to kick your meal off with, and Mummy’s quartered Mushrooms were delicious. There was a gentle tone of mellow Garlic; one that was distinct enough to add to the flavour, but not so strong that Dracula would be driven away! In her usual style, Mummy said that all that was missing was a wedge of bread with which to mop up every last smidge of sauce.
My simple sounding dish of Baked Aubergine in Tomato Sauce was anything but; it was chock full of flavour, creamy in part, sweet in others and delicious as a whole. The Aubergine was comfortingly soft with a beautiful mellowness to its taste that provided the perfect backdrop for the Tomato to shine against. A shallow crust of melted cheese added even more flavour to this dish as well as providing a golden colour to it. I was surprised by just how satiating this dish was, and I have to say that I could happily have a scaled-up portion of this as a main course with some crusty bread to gather up all the thick, hearty sauce.
The Man Birds’ pancake had a superb texture to it; it was soft but not soggy or clarty in the least. Inside its confines was a creamy, gooey Cheese filling that oozed over the taste buds lazily, leaving its taste to linger in the mouth. Again this was deceptively filling; you certainly get your meal off to a good start at Sandro’s!
Our lovely server had brought over a mill of Pepper at the beginning of our starters and ground each of our preferred amount of seasoning over our dishes, and whilst we were munching away came to check that we were happy with our meals. When he came to clear our starters away, the gent checked we were ok for drinks and said that our mains wouldn’t be long. In the background we could hear the sizzle of food being cooked, and by this time we had been joined by several more tables so the kitchen was certainly coming to life!
If we thought the portions had been good for the starters, we certainly got even more bang-for-our-buck with the mains; the bowls were heaving with pasta and sauces! Whilst there may be those of you out there that will wrinkle your noses at the amount of Salmon in my dish, let me just remind you: you get 3 courses AND a drink for £18. That said, there were still plenty of pieces of Salmon in there, but not the whole fillet or large flakes that you’d maybe be expecting; the dish did have that unmistakeable Salmon taste to it though. The pasta (in all our meal choices) was cooked to absolute al dente perfection and we smiled happily as mouthful after mouthful was savoured.
His Nibs’ Rigatoni Calabrese was comprised of ridged pasta tubes, slices of aromatic, spicy Pepperoni, Chilli flakes, Garlic, intense Tomatoes and Black Olives (guess where the majority of them went; yep, in mine and Mummy’s tummies). You certainly got the heat from the Pepperoni and the Chilli, but not enough to have any ‘tingle factor’ and paired with the milder, sweeter notes of Tomato and the fruity, almost floral, tasting Black Olives that he kept for himself, this was a beautifully balanced dish IN His Nibs’ opinion.
Carbonara is a classic Italian sauce that goes with pretty much any kind of pasta and here at Sandro’s it was marvellously thick, allowing it to cling to the ribbons of Tagliatelle and be gobbled up easily. One thing I can’t stand (in any type of cuisine) is a thin, miserable sauce that drips sullenly from cutlery or meat or pasta; there’s just no need for it in my mind, and thankfully it seems that Chef is of the same opinion. The marriage of cream and egg was blissful and hadn’t been rushed, so the egg hadn’t scrambled at all, and there was plenty of Bacon to really permeate through the sauce so that the taste buds could get hold of it.
Again, the Pepper mill came out, as did a bowl of grated Parmesan, to which we all replied “yes, please” when asked if we’d like some. The pungency of Parmesan adds depth and brings other flavours to the fore, I always think, and you’ll never hear/see me refuse cheese! When asked if we were enjoying our food, our server asked if we’d like more drinks, so I had another small glass of Chianti and The Man had another Peroni.
Three of the four desserts on offer are homemade, so I had the Tiramisu and His Nibs had the Chocolate Cake; Mummy Bird was the only one who didn’t have a homemade choice, but her Cheesecake was very, very good.
The Cheesecake was a baked variety and it had a superb Vanilla taste whose warm, rounded notes caressed Mummy’s palate. There was a nice base to it (not too thick, not too thin and not soggy) and a generous baked filling that was absolutely the perfect texture; creamy, indulgent and not heavy on the tummy. The top crust was temptingly golden and wasn’t hard to pierce, so it fully deserved the top marks Mummy Bird gave it.
His Nibs’ Chocolate Cake was served warm, which only served to intensify its cocoa richness – not a bad thing at all according to my beloved chocoholic hubster, and who am I to disagree? It was a fairly dense textured cake, and by that I mean a flattish one rather than a light, tall Victoria sponge-type morsel, rather than you envisioning an indigestion-inducing dessert – which it wasn’t at all! Rather, it was swoon inducingly divine, and every.single.crumb got devoured.
Mentioning the word divine reminds me of my own, homemade Tiramisu. Translating as ‘pick me up’ in English, this minx gathered me up and lifted me heavenwards in its luxurious, mouth-watering wake. Honestly, I have searched for many years for a Tiramisu that matches an old work colleague of mine (who I used to affectionately call my ‘Italian Mamma’, on account of her always baking something for our nightshifts at work) and have never found one that quite meets the criteria...until now.
As I took that first mouthful I gasped, and Mummy looked at me expectantly, for she knows of Giovanna’s baking prowess in my eyes. I closed my eyes and I really was back on nightshift with my Italian Mamma; the softness of the Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger biscuits was wonderful, the coffee having seeped into their fabric and the ratio of cream to chocolate was beyond perfect. I don’t think Giovanna would mind if I said that this was every bit as good as her recipe, though it doesn’t come with the fond memories of those days of camaraderie so hers will always have the edge.
With our meals complete it was time to bid Sandro’s team farewell and make our way home. We all said that, given the quality of our first experience here, we’d happily return another evening to try their a la carte dishes; the specials board looked very tempting!
Hot Wings awarded to this great Clowne eaterie for its Tuesday and Wednesday-only three course special. To book give them a call on 01246 813028
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