11 Jacksons Lane, Carmarthen. 01267 232828 / www.florentinos-italian.com
Food **** Atmosphere ****
This excellent Italian restaurant, hidden in the backstreets of Carmarthen, is an excellent choice for something a little off the beaten path. It’s housed in a beautiful stone building that’s befitting of a British market town worth its salt, with low wooden beams and a homely, compact atmosphere.
From the main street of the market town you might not even realise Florentino’s is there. Atmosphere-wise, the only possible drawback is the somewhat cheesy musical backdrop, consisting of overcooked 80s ballads sung in Italian, Spanish and English. Thankfully, that’s the only thing that’s overcooked. The food itself is uniformly excellent and exceptionally well-priced for the quality on offer. Most of the Italian staples of pasta and pizza are between £10-£14, and the meat and fish dishes are not significantly more expensive.
I opted for the pork chop with a garlic and parmesan sauce, whilst my partner went for a ravioli with prawns in a creamy mushroom sauce. With one half responsible for driving and the other nursing a hangover, we didn’t have the chance to sample the wine menu, though it looks admirable. The pork chop itself was absolutely fantastic. The quality of the cut was superb – with the right balance between pork’s natural saltiness combining with the meat’s tender juiciness, balanced excellently against the more varied flavours of the garlic and parmesan, with the sauce giving the meat body and heart. Ravioli was also superb – great texture allied to a creamy sauce made it a meal to remember. Superb stuff.
words FEDOR TOT