Oliver

AS the first restaurant to open at Leeds city centre's celebrated waterside development Clarence Dock, the pressure is on for @Larocca.

And the Italian restaurant, which claims to offer a taste of Tuscany in classy, stylish surroundings, certainly gives visitors another reason to visit the once-neglected riverside – although there were a few teething troubles.

Soon to be joined by top venues including Aagrah, Pizza Express and trendy Indian eaterie Mumtaz, @Larocca opened its doors last month at a special launch party attended by some of Leeds's biggest movers and shakers.

So Oliver's task was to find out how the £2.5m restaurant was coping a few weeks on, especially as the venue seems to be somewhat out on a limb.

Although Clarence Dock is rapidly expanding, key players within @Larocca say they expected the £13m casino to be up and running before the restaurant – but so far, only a Starbucks and a Tesco Express have opened at the trendy riverside development.

Without regular passing trade from workers and shoppers, it remains to be seen how well @Larocca can cope with the first few difficult months.

My dining partner and I headed to the venue quite early on a Monday evening and decided to have a drink in the piano cocktail bar before sitting down to eat.

The decor and furnishings can only be described as plush, oozing warmth with a mixture of reds and browns; while the bar is quite airy and spacious; with plenty of stools, glass tables, sofas and chairs scattered around.

The walls are filled with eye-catching pictures and a grand piano stands in one corner; but while this might sound pretentious, there was also a giant TV screen showing music videos at one end, giving the bar a more casual and relaxed atmosphere.

Although the staff were helpful and friendly, the restaurant is quite obviously still new – dead giveaways included the smell of upholstery which oozed from the leather chairs as we sat down, as well as dusty footprints on the wooden floorboards, presumably a memento left by the builders.

We sat down to enjoy our £5 cocktails, a mojito and a raspberry Moscow mule, which is a mix of vodka, raspberry and ginger beer.

Unfortunately, the waitress forgot to bring the ginger beer until we were halfway through, which marked the first of the night's teething troubles.

However, the mistake was forgotten when we headed into the restaurant and saw how big the area was – and how well it had been filled.

High ceilings, giant lamps, over-sized plants and enormous pictures aren't often seen in restaurants in Leeds city centre; and better still, there was plenty of space between the tables, so there was no need to say a dozen "excuse me's" as we crossed through the venue.

For a Monday, the restaurant was surprisingly busy and there was so much to see and look at – including a very extensive menu with plenty of pasta, pizza, meat and fish dishes – that it took us quite a while to make our choices.

A complimentary slice of bread served with a small bowl of balsamic vinegar and olive oil also delayed our decision making; but luckily, we weren't rushed and the staff seemed happy to let us take our time.

After much deliberation, we decided to share starters of spiedini di pecorino e gamberi – grilled prawn skewers with pecorino di pienza cheese and balsamic vinegar (£7.50) – and bonbon di formaggio caprino fritto, or goat's cheese deep fried in breadcrumbs with crispy salad (£4).

The dishes arrived a short-time later and on first appearances, my dining partner and I were very impressed.

The meals looked good and the servings were reasonable, although I felt that two prawn skewers for £7.50 was a tad overpriced.

My only other complaint was that the goat's cheese tasted slightly microwaved, although the prawns were perfect – plump, tasty and full of flavour.

For the main course, I opted for one of the meat dishes, costola di maiale alla mortarda di frutta – pork rack with taleggio cheese, fruit mustard and onion cake (£12.50) – accompanied by a side order of new potatoes topped with mozzarella cheese (£2.50).

My dining partner chose the risotto della laguna, otherwise known as Arborio rice with scampi, prawns and rucola (£9).

When the dishes arrived, once again we were impressed. The portions were absolutely enormous - there was probably no need for the side order of potatoes, which was virtually a meal in itself.

The meat was succulent and tasty and my dining partner said her risotto was rich and creamy, so we were both very satisfied. As she put down her fork, she even said she was going to bring her family to the restaurant, which is high praise indeed.

For dessert, my dining partner opted for the Chocolatissimo, a chocolate sabyon with an individual jug of mocha (£4.50), which she said was delicious; while my sticky toffee pudding with caramel sauce (£4) was the one of the best I have ever tasted.

Earlier in the review, I referred to "teething troubles" and, apart from the waitress not knowing the location of the toilets which was extremely worrying, these primarily came at the end of the meal, when we were settling the bill.

We had been overcharged for both my main meal and the wine; and although the dispute was settled amicably, on leaving the restaurant I realised I had still been slightly overcharged for my main meal, which was listed as suckling pig rather than pork rack.

I couldn't be bothered to go back in and explain, especially as we'd already had to send the bill back twice. Including the tip, we paid £75 in total for our meal and drinks, which we didn't think was too bad.

In time, it is likely that the little blips will be ironed out, but they may need to be sorted pretty sharpish if the restaurant is going to survive in the current wilderness of Clarence Dock.

It deserves to – @Larocca is well worth a venture off the beaten track.

FACTFILE

@Larocca, Armouries Drive, Clarence Dock, Leeds, LS10 1RE

Tel: 0113 234 6000
Website: www.laroccaleeds.com
Opening hours: 10am until 2am (serving coffee, lunch, dinner and cocktails)

RATINGS

FOOD 3/5
VALUE FOR MONEY 3/5
ATMOSPHERE 4/5
SERVICE 1/5