Dinner At La Torre Italian Restaurant In Bedlington
Published On Wednesday 26 Apr 2023 by Sticky Beak
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Whenever The Man and I go to visit his Mum, aka Geordie Bird, we always try to take her out for a nice meal – easier said than done, as it has to be somewhere that does ‘small portions’ (clearly she doesn’t get the concept of doggy bags!). So, one evening after we’d finished our dinner, we sat down in front of the ‘puter to do some research, and found a nice little pub. We dropped the pub a message and waited for a response; sadly, they didn’t get back to us and so we contacted our reserve choice, La Torre, in Bedlington who were more than happy to take our reservation.
Bedlington is less than 10 miles from GB’s place, so we weren’t travelling for long before the jalopy was being swung into a space on the roadside, just across from La Torre. Saturday night is clearly THE night to be dining out in Bedlington: La Torre was heaving with diners! There was a bit of confusion as to our booking, but The Man spotted our details on the system and pointed them out to the young man, who then took us over to our table.
Having settled in with our drinks - after a bit of a higgledy-piggledy wait - we all turned our attention to the menu; The Man and me were having starters so we began our search there. I love Mussels, so when I spotted them with White Wine and Garlic (£8.95) that was my choice sorted, and His Nibs fancied the Crispy Duck Bon Bons served with Hoisin Mayo (£7.95). For mains we selected the Linguine Meatballs (His Nibs, £9.95), Salmon and Crevettes in a rich Lobster Bisque (me, £20.95) and good old Ham and Mushroom Pizza for GB (£9.95).
The Man Bird smiled happily as the quartet of golden brown, crispy Bon Bons were set down in front of him, and his grin widened when he tasted the first bit of the succulent shredded duck and rice filling! Sometimes you can’t beat dunking and on this occasion it was the crunchy Bon Bon that was getting doused in the Hoisin-pimped Mayo, spilling a wonderfully creamy texture over His Nibs’ tongue.
I’d got a huge bowl of plump, meaty Mussels to savour and the cooking liquor actually was exactly as described: White Wine and Garlic, liberally scattered with fresh Parsley. This was stunning in its simplicity and all the flavours came bouncing out like a troupe of Tiggers, washing over my palate and flooding my taste buds with their joy. Best of all, was the large slice of toasted Garlic Bread that allowed me to mop up plenty of the liquor, before grabbing a spoon to slurp up the rest! Geordie Bird had sat there opposite me, watching as I pigged out (probably thinking “dear god, how did I end up with this as a daughter-in-law!”); did I feel guilty at eating whilst she wasn’t? Did I heck as like; zero flying wat-sits given, as they say!
One of the La Torre team had checked we were enjoying our starters and it was them that came to clear away our squeaky-clean plates a short time later. We’d asked for some table water and the server brought out the glasses and carafe of chilled, iced water on a tray and poured out the first bit for us, which I thought was a nice touch.
We were soon having our mains brought over, and Geordie Bird began to tuck into her Pizza with an enthusiasm that took both His Nibs and I by surprise – usually she picks like a sparrow at her food, as if testing the waters before she commits to eating! Anyhow, with his Mother Bird happy, His Nibs was able to chill and chomp on his hearty dish: Linguine with Beef and Pork Meatballs, all swathed in a rich, thick Tomato-based Ragu. You can always tell the quality of an Italian restaurant by the fact that they come around with a bowl of finely grated Parmesan, and the gent that offered this to The Man Bird certainly didn’t skimp on the amount you can have on your food.
His Nibs was very impressed by the dense texture of the meatballs; they had a good chew time to them and a beautiful depth of flavour that hit the brains’ pleasure centre smack in the sweet-spot. Some folks might baulk at paying just shy of a tenner for ‘pasta’ but, trust me, this was a meal-and-a-half that would satisfy even the most ardent appetite and it was marvellously tasty too!
My own meal was pretty impressive, size-wise, too! A lovely rose-toned, thick fillet of Salmon took centre-stage in my bowl, accompanied by large, tail-on King Prawns and then bathed in a wondrously flavoursome, coral hued Lobster Bisque that had my palate cheering as its flavour burst over it. This dish is accompanied by a choice of Potato Wedges, Fries, New Potatoes, Vegetables or Salad; now you all know that I’m not particularly a spud-o-phile, so I was mightily happy to select the veggies and salad to go with my meal. If there hadn’t been the option of Salad or vegetables then I’d got a back-up choice of Crab Risotto, but that’ll probably be my choice next time we visit La Torre.
Geordie Bird didn’t manage to finish her Pizza, but the team packaged up the remaining three slices for her to take home; she’d already made plans to have them with chips for a cheeky supper the next day.
As we were waiting for our bill (which was a bit of a wait), we sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to a couple of groups that had chosen this particular eatery for their celebrations. The Birthday boy/girl donned the ‘birthday Sombrero’ and let their friends, family (and strangers, like us!) serenade them. I have to say that La Torre certainly go all-out for their guests if there’s celebrating to be done.
Hot Wings awarded to this brilliant Bedlington venue; thank goodness the other place didn’t get back to us else we’d have missed out here! To book your table (which, given how busy it was, I would recommend you do) give the La Torre team a buzz on 01670 829233 or visit the website www.latorrerestaurant.com and hit the ‘reservation’ button.
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