Eating Out: Tony Macaroni

Aug 4 2011

Address: 4 Byres Road Tel: 334 5959 Web: www.tonymacaroni.co.uk

YOU may find the name a bit corny but there's nothing cheesy about Tony Macaroni.

This Italian restaurant in Byres Road is one of two city-based venues with a further five in Motherwell, Lanark, Largs, East Kilbride and Livingston.

It was a lovely summer's evening when we visited and the restaurant's French doors were opened wide.

We were seated in a booth in the basement. Macaroni's also has a large ground-floor bar and seating area as well as a dining space to the rear and a mezzanine area.

For starters, I was on my own as the good lady wanted to save herself for one of the restaurant's famed sundaes.

So I opted for the bruschetta di formaggio caprino (£4.95).

This was one hefty starter of two thick slices of toasted bread with caramelised onions, goat's cheese topped with heaps of fresh rocket.

The bruschetta would've been enough for two, my wife remarked, and we both agreed it was a terrific dish to start proceedings.

The only choice for me for a main course from the pasta section was the rigatoni con sugo dicarne (£9.75), the large penne-type pasta served in a tomato sauce with beef, veal strips and Italian sausage.

As a side nibble, I ordered the marinated mixed olives (£2.95).

Salmon seems to be the wife's favourite food at the moment.

She ordered the salmone al Porro (£12.95), a pan-fried fillet with leeks finished in a black pepper cream.

Her meal came with a choice of sides and she chose the mixed salad with house dressing.

I should've passed on the starter as my pasta bowl was heaped with perfectly cooked rigatoni, smothered in a rich sauce littered with my meat combo.

The Italian sausage was awesome, as were the lean stips of veal and beef.

I was struggling to finish, but it was so good I was determined to clear my bowl - so much so I surrendered my sundae option.

The good lady's main featured three large pieces of crumbly salmon drenched in a lovely, thick pepper cream.

She said the sauce and salmon combinations was delicious, if a little bit too filling. I didn't even get a sniff of the perfectly-dressed salad as it was gone in a flash.

The only let-down on the food was a minor one. My olives were pretty dry and missing any kind of marinade.

The dessert menu at Tony Macaroni is something to behold.

Even if you hated your meal, you'd still be happy with your lot after tackling one of the venue's famous sundaes.

This was what my other half was waiting for and she wasn't disappointed. The tasty toffee tablet number (£6.95 and worth every penny) must keep a few West End dentists in business.

This bad boy offers two scoops of double cream vanilla ice cream, one of toffee fudge ice cream, toffee sauce, tablet chunks, freshly whipped cream, crispy wafer decorations and topped with yet more tablet chunks.

I tried it and there are simply no words to describe it.

The food at this restaurant is so good, my wife and I both decided we will definitely be Mac.