Ordinary Food

Strada

222 High Street Guildford
www.strada.co.uk


After my dismal dining experience in Wokingham's Doni Beni's a few weeks ago, dinner at Strada came as a welcome relief. The Guildford branch took residence a couple of years back replacing a Hogshead Pub - no great loss given its predecessor’s mediocre microwaved offerings. The refurbishment of the main dining area works a treat, providing a sophisticated but relaxed ambience. The peripheral dining areas at the front of the restaurant and on the first floor lack the sheen and buzz of the main space, but are a pleasant place to dine nevertheless. My first experience of Strada was four or five years back at the just-opened Holborn branch. Since then, they've ditched the carafes of house wine, complete with natty little purple rulers (so you only got charged for what you've drunk) but otherwise things remain much the same. Tables come tastefully laid with heavy cutlery and linen napkins and a bottle of complementary chilled water. Mixed olives at a reasonable £1.95 were mellowed and varied. My starter at £5.95 - mixed antipasto, came with good buffalo mozzarella, ripe tomato and a good selection of salami and ham. Andrew ordered calamari off the specials menu at £6.95 - a little steep given they were probably straight out of the freezer but were reasonably cooked and served with rocket and tart mayonnaise. Now on to the main business - pizza. This is where Strada truly excels. Andrew's cotto with smoked ham and my quattro stagioni were both exemplary - a well judged tomato sauce, quality mozzarella and toppings perfectly balanced on a hand stretched, light base. The pizza was washed down with a bottle of rough and ready house red at £12.50 - nothing to write home about but a good counterpoint to the excellent pizza. I can report from previous visits that while not in the premier league of the pizzas, Strada's pasta offerings are good too - especially spaghetti with mixed seafood at under a tenner. The breads are equally delicious - in particular the rosemary and garlic. Our total bill came to £51 including 10% optional service - not bad for a two course meal with a bottle of wine, olives and a mixed salad.

Pork with a Greek twist

Tonight, I adapted my little pork fillet dish (recipe can be found in the fav recipe section) with feta and olives rather than sage to give it a Greek slant. And rather delicious it was too. I made a pocket in the fillet and then whizzed some black olives with some olive oil and pepper into a paste, then stuffed the meat with the paste and some sliced feta, then tied up. I enjoyed the result- a deeply savoury flavour which hit it off well with the pork. Apologies for the less than tidy presentation- it may have had something to do with the copious amounts of sherry I drank earlier this evening- but I thought you might like the pics anyhow.

The bestest Sherry

OK so its Monday night and rather sadly I've hit the sherry bottle. But I've done it in style with the most fabulous sherry on the market. It's super dry, feathery light and has an ever so slight salty edge. It comes from the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The town is set between the sea and the river and the marshlands to the north, which creates an especially humid and constant microclimate. Now here comes the science bit. According to the producer, these conditions allow a special growth of yeast, known as the 'flor', to grow on the surface of the maturing wine all your round thus protecting it from the detrimental effects of oxygen. Elsewhere in the Sherry district, the flor dies off in the summer and winter months to form the Fino sherry instead. Due to the uniqueness of this wine Manzanilla has its own 'Denominación de Origen' Manzanilla -Sanlúcar de Barrameda, set within the Sherry Denomination. Its a great little story, and this is a great sherry. So I'm going to have another glass with some rather morish unsalted pistashios.