Robyn Z.
Yelp
wednesday night found me merrily skipping my way from the bus stop to the warm lights of this restaurant that i have been desperate to try for ages!! i was so excited, as the only reviews i'd ever heard about cafe domenicos could be summed up with the word AMAZING.
opening the door i was first greeted by one of my lovely night out companions sitting down followed by the handsome waiter asking if i would like my coat hung up. so with a good looking man providing the service, the evening was already off to a great start! our third companion for the night came along shortly after and we deliberated over the menus.
the first thing i noticed about the menu was how concise it was. about 6 starters, 6 pasta dishes, and 4-5 main courses and a handful of specials. even with limited options though i still found it rather difficult to make my choice! after a bit of debate and discussion with the waiter we ordered the fig and blue cheese bruschetta, a tomato, mozarella, and pesto bruschetta, spicy sausage and red pepper pasta (extra chilli and garlic), auberigne and tomato pasta, and pesto, spinach, and broccoli pasta.
just a note, they offer a deal monday thru wednesday for a pasta dish and a glass of wine for £7.50. they kindly subsituted my glass of wine for a diet coke as i wasn't drinking that night.
The bruschettas took a bit of time to arrive as the waiter made them all fresh, but they were definitely worth the wait. each toasted piece of fresh bread was topped high with tasty ingredients accompanied by a sizeable portion of rocket and tomato salad dressed with olive oil. both bruschettas were very good but i have to say the figs with blue cheese was just delicious! the combination of the sweet fig with the salty slightly pungent blue cheese and the crispy bread was like bruschetta heaven in my mouth....
pastas arrived in an appropriate time after our starters had been cleared and for £7.50 (including the drink) these were very good portions!! my plate held a very pleasing meal of spinach and broccoli with penne pasta mixed through with fresh pesto and just a hint of cream to bring it all together. topped with parmesan, i very happily ate the lot because it was so tasty and comforting. my fellow companions also found their dishes very tasty and we were even paid a visit by the chef to see how our dinners were.
as we had a movie to go to and decided to get some cinema treats, we didn't get dessert although there were a few tasty options on the menu. the waiter kindly brought the cheque and was happy to accept three forms of payment as well.
i was very impressed with cafe domenico and felt that it completely lived up to expectations and i'm looking forward to going back already! the excellent customer service and their willingness to tailor dishes or make them up specific to a diner's need was a really nice touch. not too mention how delicious and fresh the food is and the excellent value for money, seriously can this place do anything wrong?
perhaps as i'm desperate to get lunch there as both my friends raved about the quality of the sandwiches, but working many miles away from leith will not allow such luxuries. maybe they could set up a delivery service???