Pacino's

From Chester Wiki

Contents 1 Blurb 2 Where 3 Atmosphere 4 Prices 5 Food 6 Conclusion 7 Other Reviews

[edit] Blurb

Pacino's (going since 1986) used to be a real gem with an excellent reputation as a rugged traditional Italian with first class service and a loyal following. I was a regular for many years and looked forward to going back when offered a 'treat' by my partner. Its own website is here, but the wine list on the site is a bit out of date (the section in-house is far bigger) and the prices quoted on the website do not seem current.

[edit] Where

A bit off the beaten track, this place relied on reputation rather than locale and passing trade.

[edit] Atmosphere

Packed and busy in the past (you would be thankful to get a seat), we walked in to three rooms empty but for one other table and were asked if we had made a reservation (if we hadn't, would they have thrown us out?). The wine list has been rewritten so the choice is not quite as difficult as it used to be, but seems a little over-enthusiastic at times - still, it is a good list.

Pacino's is a non-smoking restaurant, but if you want a cigarette you can pop outside the door which is quite sheltered.

[edit] Prices

Pacino's is not cheap, but in that bearable part of middle where the little things should count for a lot. As noted above, the prices on the web-site are out of date.

[edit] Food

Rather disappointing when we went on 7 May 2007. We ordered the antipasto with "crusty bread" to start, and were presented with what seemed like square slices of factory tin bread with nothing that could be described as a crust. Butter was supplied as rock-hard "Anchor" catering portions in foil that fragmented the "milk-loaf" bread when spread. Having just returned from Rome, we were used to soft butter and harder bread - however, in this case it was the other way round. The antipasto was nothing you couldn't have bought in Tesco for about £2.00, and the salad with it was undressed - we would have expected a bottle of balsamic dressing or olive oil on the table, but they were not there.

For mains we had rack of lamb (from the regular menu) and ostrich steak (a special). Both these meats were very well prepared, filling portions and well presented (neither of us were asked if we wanted our meat rare or well done - but it came on the rare side as we wanted it). The chips were fantastic as always. The rest was a bit of a let-down: the mushrooms tasted like they had been recently defrosted and the rest of the veg were a touch overcooked (the broccoli in particular was rather soggy and had a few yellow florets).

Only one of us could face a sweet. Ice-cold "Baked Vanilla Cheesecake" tried hard to convince us that it had been somewhere near an oven since its birth in a factory (but failed miserably), and the "balsamic glaze" on the strawberries seemed to have been forgotten. Perhaps we had been spoiled with cheesecakes elsewhere, but this didn't seem to come up to scratch.

[edit] Conclusion

Good wholesome mains, but a poor intro, off veg and a weak ending - the little things that mattered were missing.

Staff: attentive but not fussy (but we were almost the only customers).

Food: gone downhill - my partner felt that her £65 could have been better spent.

Reputation: we hope that's not all they have to offer.

[edit] Other Reviews

• The reviews on Chester@large were unfortunately, in agreement with our sadly negative view.
• However those on Onionring are much better
• Those on Sugarvine are also generally positive.