Close to my office in Bristol is La Panza, now an Italian restaurant, which use to be Chatterton’s Cafe.
They have a £10 lunch deal which consists of pasta, focaccia, and a drink. I liked the idea of this, so decided I would try them out. I have been meaning to try out for a while, but I quite like a walk at lunchtime, so as it’s practically next door to the office, I often give it a miss. However this time, I went there after my walk.
Upon arrival, I wasn’t really given any kind of welcome, I had to wait a while before being seated. There is no seating downstairs, all the tables are upstairs. There is outside seating, but it was quite chilly for that, even with table heaters. The place was busy, which is probably why I had to wait a while to get my table sorted.
With the lunch deal, you have no choice about the pasta, they serve the pasta of the day. This time they had a rigatoni pasta dish with tomato, ham, and chilli. I am not sure what they would do if you were vegetarian, but there are some nice sounding pasta dishes on the main menu (but they’re not as cheap as the lunch deal).
Though I had to wait for the table, it wasn’t too long before my meal arrived.
Alongside the pasta was a slice of focaccia. I have to admit I was expecting a chunk of focaccia, but that’s on me, not the restaurant. The pasta was excellent, cooked to perfection and a delicious sauce. The bread was fresh, light and fluffy. As part of the deal you get a drink, and you have the choice of a coffee, a soft drink, or a glass of house wine.
I will take a little annoyance with the 10% service charge, I don’t mind paying for service, but for a lunch deal, couldn’t you just include the service charge in the price? To be honest the service wasn’t that good, however I paid the service charge. I much prefer it when the prices you see on the menu actually reflect the price you pay. It’s much worse in London where everywhere feels they can charge 12.5% or higher service charge. I am not sure what they’re thinking, yes pay for service, but make it part of the price of the food on the menu. It feels a little fraudulent to have “lower” prices on the menu, but these aren’t the prices you are going to pay.
The key question, despite that 10% surcharge, will I go again for pasta? Yes I will.