Laghi's
A JOB WELL DONE
A more recent review from March 2024 of Stu Deeley at Laghi’s is available here… click to read
My elderly Mum is visiting for a few days and wants to take us out for a meal as a thank you. I start showing her options online, but any unfamiliar menu item simply prompts a shake of the head. After six futile attempts, I ask her ‘what she fancies?’ “Well, your brother took me to a good Italian last time,” she replies, “but I don’t know where it was.” I text him and he replies ‘Pasta di Piazza, Acocks Green’.
A quick Google search brings up their website with its unattributed accolade of having been ‘Voted One of the Best Restaurants without a set menu for parties and events’. And whilst that’s not quite enough to put me off, I last no further than a quick scan of their ridiculously oversized menu of 30 starters, 30 pasta and risotto dishes and 20 mains.
Looking elsewhere and getting quickly despondent, Laghi’s at least promises all its pasta is “passionately homemade” and with just 5 starters, 6 pastas, 4 mains, it’s eased past the first couple of tests. And despite not stirring up much in the way of menu excitement, I’m happy enough to face down my moral dilemma, telling her my brother hasn’t got back to me and I book in here.
Laghi’s interior
At 6.30 the only energy in the room is from sharply dressed, well groomed waiters, keen to impress, whilst honing their hospitality skills, English and charm. My Mum’s getting the full Shirley Valentine experience and with the pepper mill suitably well endowed, it feels like we’re on an Italian resort holiday that even manages to transform the sound of six lanes of traffic outside to something reminiscent of waves breaking on the beach.
Fried calamari and prawns, served with lemon & garlic mayonnaise
There’s nothing especially enticing us from the starters, opting to share two portions of fried, lightly battered calamari and shell on prawns between the three of us. They’re ‘as good as can be’ hot out the fryer, with soft bite on the squid, firm bite on the prawns and served with lemon and garlic mayonnaise.
By now, we’re motoring through an easy drinking bottle of Grillo, so I do the noble thing and order a large glass of merlot, to leave the rapidly diminishing white for the ladies.
Black Spaghetti served with Red Prawns, Scallops, cherry tomatoes
Katrina’s gone for the black spaghetti with plenty of juicy nuggets of scallops, deveined prawns and chunks of softened tomato. It’s all pulled together in a silky, glistening sauce, that’s both sweet and lightly acidic and working in harmony with the salinity from the squid ink pasta.
Pappardelle served with Lamb Ragú
But I’ve no plate envy whatsoever from the sight of my herb flecked pappardelle, topped with a white ragú of slow braised shreds of lamb. It’s surprisingly light and fresh, allowing the sweetness of the lamb to rightly do all the hard work, although there’s a third too much pasta than the sauce requires.
Ribeye 8oz served with Peppercorn sauce, chard and roast onion
My mum’s gone for the ribeye, served with a sparse peppercorn sauce, chard and roast onion. Her side of ‘thick potato chips’ is a brazen way to describe frozen chips, so lightly fried they barely seal mushy innards that bring to mind wallpaper paste in both taste and texture.
Thick potato chips
But if the chips are bad, then the medium ribeye is miserably, appallingly bad. At less than half an inch thick, the chances of it landing anything other than well done are remote at best, but it’s still a surprise that it’s so beyond ‘well done’ it should come with a leather grading. To be fair, my Mum doesn’t seem that bothered, although she leaves half the steak and nearly all the chips, saying she’s full.
Ribeye 8oz (requested medium) served with Peppercorn sauce
I order a cherry-spiked Recioto della Valpolicella to go with tiramisù (and three spoons). It’s served in a flower pot and whilst I’m no fan of serving dish gimmickry, it’s the least of my worries. It’s far too creamy-mascarpone heavy, coffee-lite and booze free, so that I find myself demanding the others share the workload.
Tiramisù
We order the bill and it’s around the £150 mark, plus tip and after my mum’s settled up, I ask if she enjoyed it. “Oh yes, it was good thanks,” leaving me emboldened to ask ‘how it compares to the one in Acocks Green?’ “About the same,” she replies.
At least with my Mum happy, that’s my moral dilemma resolved.
WORTH A TRY 6/10 (FOR PASTA 8/10)
22-24 lslington Row, Edgbaston B15 1LD
