Puccini's

...mineral water when dining at Puccini's and they have always been of a high quality and very enjoyable. The waiters and especially the headwaiter can and often does make some good recommendations for drinks to go with certain meals. He comes across as having a vast amount of experience and is in no way forceful, yet always willing to engage the customer in conversation when you are ready.


Location

The location ...
...restaurant is located in Swinton, which is a district within the north western area of Manchester. Now people who know the area, will tell you that although Swinton is not a bad area, it is not the most salubrious either. Which is why most people are surprised to find out that this little gem of a restaurant is hidden in the centre of Swinton. Puccini’s is located off the main road through Swinton and directly opposite the town hall. Car parking ... more

Introduction

I thought it about high time that I a) write a new opinion for ciao and b) let you all into a little secret of one of my favourite restaurants. So here goes then. The restaurant is one of my clear favorites for many reasons, most of which will hopefully become apparent whilst reading this opinion. It has to be said the Puccini’s does indeed bring some of the finest Italian food and wine to Manchester. The local paper (Manchester Evening News) has described Puccini’s as a, “Hidden Gem”, and this is statement I do agree with. The paper also recommends its service and warm atmosphere. The restaurant is apparently named after Giacomo Puccini, who was an Italian composer famous for his love of food and good company and also for his exotic operas during the 1890s.

Atmosphere & Welcome

The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, the restaurant itself is styled with Mediterranean pastel colours and some well placed greenery dotted about. The staff themselves add to the atmosphere and the overall experience, but more about hem later. As you enter through the doors you are greeted by the management and are faced by the bar, with a small waiting area to the right. To the left is the restaurant itself with about fifteen to twenty tables positioned to give a capacity of about forty. We were told by the manager that he restricts the numbers to this level to provide a comfortable level of clientele, for whom he can provide an acceptable level of service. We were then shown to our table in the far corner, which provides a cosy yet sufficient space to enjoy your meal.

Staff

The main stay of the staff is the proprietor and restaurateur Signor Pucci. He is quite unmistakably a truly passionate Italian man, in the sense that he clearly loves what he does and loves to welcome everyone personally to his restaurant. Then comes the headwaiter whose name I have yet to catch, but whom is equally as welcoming and his service standards are second to none. Nothing is every too much trouble and he almost appears to have a second sense for what you want, before you want it. Then again it’s probably the years of experience he has too, shining through. The rest of the waiting staff are all friendly, polite and most of all very efficient. The beauty of this restaurant is that due to its relatively small size, everyone that dines here is made to feel special. On a recent trip there were four young teenage girls on a separate table to their parents. The owner and headwaiter made sure they were treated like princesses for the duration of their evening.

Food

There is only one way to adequately describe the food available at Puccini’s in my eyes, is quite simply to die for. The variety of food can sometimes leave you with tough choices when having to decide what to have. The menus offer a wide choice of foods, including Garlic Breads, Antipasti/Starters, Le Pizze, Pasta, Risotti/Rice Dishes, Carne/Meat Dishes, Pesce/Fish Dishes, Insalate/Salads, Contorni/Side Dishes, Dolci/Sweets and Gelati/Ice Creams. Within each of these sub-sections there are numerous dishes to tempt you, all of which I imagine will be exemplary. Though I am only going off personal experience from what we have eaten in Puccini’s, not that I am a self-professed expert of everything on the menu. Accompanying the main menu is of course the daily specials menu; from which I must admit we pick most of our meals. This changes on a daily basis and it would be nearly impossible to judge what is likely to be on there. I will say though that it will be nice, again based on previous experience. Fresh vegetables and fresh salads as appropriate accompany all the main course dishes.

Drinks

The drinks on offer in Puccini’s cater for most tastes, with a good selection of wines, spirits, liqueurs, beers and non-alcoholic drinks. The restaurant is quoted as saying, “Our extensive range caters for both subtle and lavish tastes, as befits the occasion”. I can whole-heartedly agree with this as well. We always usually drink the white wine and mineral water when dining at Puccini's and they have always been of a high quality and very enjoyable. The waiters and especially the headwaiter can and often does make some good recommendations for drinks to go with certain meals. He comes across as having a vast amount of experience and is in no way forceful, yet always willing to engage the customer in conversation when you are ready.

Location

The location of this restaurant is one that often surprises people. The restaurant is located in Swinton, which is a district within the north western area of Manchester. Now people who know the area, will tell you that although Swinton is not a bad area, it is not the most salubrious either. Which is why most people are surprised to find out that this little gem of a restaurant is hidden in the centre of Swinton. Puccini’s is located off the main road through Swinton and directly opposite the town hall. Car parking in the evenings is relatively easy with a number of free car parking spaces located in front of the town hall itself. However there are also adequate public transport links, should driving not be your thing. There is a main route bus stop just outside of the restaurant across the little square, which separates it from the main road. The railway station is approximately ¼ mile round the corner, though I don’t think that many trains run during the evenings, so be careful to check timetables if you choose this option. I for one am certain that had my father in law not introduced us to this restaurant I would of never found it myself.

Here is the official address and telephone contact details for the restaurant:-

Puccini’s Pizzeria e Ristorante
171-173 Chorley Road,
Swinton,
Manchester
Telephone: 0161 794 1847

The restaurant also has a website, from which you can view the restaurant, staff, find directions and more importantly the menus. The website address is http://www.puccinirestaurant.co.uk/ and is well worth a look for anyone wanting to try this place out.

What we had to eat.

When I say we, I am referring to the people with which I last went to Puccini’s. Namely my wife, mother in law, father in law and my goodself. It is becoming a bit a tradition that we go to Puccini’s at least once a month on a Saturday evening. Not that we mind in the slightest of course, because you see we all thoroughly enjoy it, every time we go. Regardless of what food we all order, it is always very good. The service and atmosphere I have mentioned before also add to the occasion.

Right on to what we actually had. For an aperitif we always order a couple of medium sized garlic breads, one plain and one topped with chopped tomato and onion. For starters we had collectively, Deep fried Camembert & mozzarella with cranberry on the side; Italian style charcoal grilled spare ribs; Smoked breast of duck with trimmings and Duck and Orange pate again with the usual trimmings. For our main courses we ordered Escalopes of veal with a brandy, cream and mushroom sauce; Medallions of Beef in a green peppercorn sauce; Fillet steak with creamy mushroom and peppercorn sauce and Grilled sea bass personally filleted at the table by the head waiter. (Which is an art form in itself, when it is done properly and well worth watching). All of the main courses were accompanied by the usual seasonal vegetables such as potatoes, broccoli, carrots and asparagus together with the associated sauces as required. Then comes the desserts, these just keep getting better and better. We chose carefully from the very tempting dessert menu. After much deliberation, we settled on Fresh Oranges served with caramel sauce with Grand Marnier x2, Chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and caramel profiteroles, again yes you guessed it with ice cream. All the meals were enjoyed by those eating them and admired with some envy by those wishing they had made another choice when ordering.

All of this washed down liberally with three bottles of Pinot Grigio white wine and mineral water (someone had to drive obviously). The bill at the end of a most delightful evening was approximately £120. Not that bad considering what we had all eaten and drunk between the four of us.

Conclusions

The management of this restaurant clearly know how to run an establishment of this calibre correctly and efficiently. It is always a joy to go and eat there. The warm welcoming atmosphere and efficient helpful staff coupled with great food and great service make for the ideal solution when running a restaurant in my view. Get the basic ingredients right and everything else will fall into place as is proved here. So you can now clearly see why this is one of my favourite restaurants. I am told that occasionally you will find some of the Man Utd players eating in here, but I have yet to see any of them. So that remains to be seen. Not that it would bother me much being a Newcastle Utd fan that is.

Thanks for reading and I hope you found it informative.

Andy
 

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