Caffe Piccolo

Good bar upstairs which is a bit of find for Basingstoke. There’s a half decent cocktail menu too. This always helps get things going especially if like me you were meeting a big bunch of people I didn’t know! The food is similar to other well known Italian chains and is not expensive.

We went to Café Piccolo almost by Random choice! Neither my guest nor I had been there before, but agreed to meet there anyway. My first good impression was made before we even went in! The manager was cheerfully and warmly seeing some diners to the door. They were clearly delighted with their meal. The restaurant can best be described as ‘Not a quiet place.’ It is elegantly appointed, but with few soft furnishings, so I think the noise generated by the diners has nothing to absorb it, so it just echoes around the restaurant! My guest and I moved to a table (Almost) under the stairs, where we found it a lot quieter.
We found the service to be perfectly acceptable. The staff seemed to pick up on the fact that we had lots to talk about, and they seemed to gear the level of attention to the pace that we were setting for the meal. We felt neither rushed, not ignored!
Neither of fancied a huge meal, so instead we opted for three starters, which we shared. We chose mussels in white wine sauce, king prawns and crumbed mushrooms. The latter two starters each came with their dips that were absolutely delicious! Everything was beautifully prepared, nothing was over –or undercooked. Seasoning was just about perfect. As for the rest of the menu, all I can say this that there are plenty of choices that one would expect to find in an Italian restaurant, and I can barely wait to return to explore the rest of it!
We chose simple gelato desserts which were neatly presented in individual glasses. the portions were generous, and the gelato delicious.
We took our coffee upstairs in the wine bar. By this time it was late and a lot quieter. The wine bar is very elegant, with soft lighting and comfortable furnishings. We were able to enjoy the rest of the evening’s conversation in a relaxed and elegant atmosphere.
My guest turned the tables on me when it came to paying the bill, so I cannot comment on the value for money, but judging by the number of diners on a mid-​week night, I am quite sure that the prices are quite reasonable too.
Upon leaving my guest described Café Piccolo as ‘An undiscovered gem!’ I cannot thing of a better way to describe it!