Leonardo’s

I visit Leonardos quite frequently, as it’s practically attached to my uni. Across the road is the much more well known Eataliano which many locals frequent as its on the main road and in a really accessible location. I think Leonardos often gets overlooked because its tucked away out of sight and people just go straight to Eataliano — a mistake in my eyes!
Leonardos is run by Italians and the décor has that authentic Italian bistro feel. The staff really cannot do enough for you and go out of their way to make you feel welcome.
On my most recent visit I went for the Lunch Menu, 2 courses for £8.50 which is superb value for the quality and authenticity of the food.
I started with the King prawns in a tomato sauce with garlic bread. The prawns were a good size and perfectly cooked in the sweet tomato sauce. The bread was perfect to mop up all the excess sauce.
I then went for the Pollo Milanese. 2 flattened breasts of chicken coated in crispy breadcrumbs and served with Penne amatriciana. This was so flavoursome and a great sized portion. The staff come straight to the table with fresh Parmesan and cracked black pepper, balsamic vinegar and extra Virgin olive oil for the side salad. The level of service and quality of food is exceptional for the deals that they do.
I’d urge any locals to overlook Eataliano on at least one occasion and turn your attention to Leonardos — you won’t regret it!

Well, this is a brilliant wee restaurant!
I arrived here at 7pm on a rainy Saturday night and was greeted by the manager who took my coat and my partner’s jacket.
We were both quite hungry and looking forward to some Italian food!
I had the scallops with Parma ham to start. This dish was delicious! The scallops were cooked to perfection and the crispy, salty ham complemented the sweet scallops perfectly. I loved the accompanying salad of spinach, tomato and Parmesan with balsamic dressing. For my main, I had the prawn and clam pappardelle. It was rich, full of flavour and very filling. The tomato sauce was delicious and the seafood was brilliant. I would highly recommend this restaurant! Great value for money!

Leonardo’s is a secluded little Italian restaurant in Hamilton; hidden just across the road from the water palace down a side street, and because of this I think no one would really ever walk past it on accident, making it a relatively quiet place most of the time.
Colin and I decided here would be the place we’d go for our last meal of 2012 on New Year’s Eve, and it was a good decision! It was my second time in here; I went not too long ago with my mum and enjoyed it then, so I thought I’d bring Colin along for a try. Apart from one other table, we were the only people in the restaurant. It was only 3pm mind you, and the manager told us they were fully booked from 7pm onwards, but it was nice being quiet and therefore getting phenomenal service from the staff.
There is a lunch menu in place, but we found it was quite limited and so decided to order our food from the a la carte menu. Colin chose the minestrone soup to start and I chose pâté with garlic bread and cranberry sauce, both of which were absolutely wonderful, and for mains I chose carbonara, and Colin decided on a chicken and pepper tagliatelle. The carbonara was extremely good and I’d rate it high, something I rarely do with that dish (I’m far too picky when it comes to carbonara, not many places do it well!), and Colin thoroughly enjoyed his main as well.
The service we received throughout the whole experience was wonderfully fast and we had such short waiting times between meals; just enough to let the starter go down. Highly recommended place if you’re struggling for somewhere to eat!