Signor Franco, Tunbridge Wells

5a High Street
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN1 1UL

http://signorfrancorestaurant.com/

You can walk past the entrance to Signor Franco's quite easily without noticing it, as it is just a small entrance between two shops.

The restaurant itself is up a flight of stairs flanked either side by autographed photos of many famous stars who, one assumes may have dined here (or at least et the owner) over the years. At the top of the stairs, the restaurant opens up into a very neat, airy space with white-clothed tables . Part of the restaurant is situated in a large "conservatory" area that overlooks the high street.

The menu is fairly standard Italian fare, which is just fine by me.

I started with Carciofi Alla Nerone described as "Warm Roman artichokes topped with marinated sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, fine herbs and served on a bed of rocket lettuce." The presentation was really good, the way that the petals on the artichokes had been trimmed made it look like a flower arangement. It tasted very nice too.

For the main course I chose Fagotti A Funghi Porcini (Fresh pasta filled with wild mushrooms and parmesan cheese, sauté in a cream wild mushrooms and parmesan cheese sauce.) It was quite nice. The only downside was that the porcini mushrooms were slightly bitter, and I'm not sure whether they were fresh or rehydrated ones. The sauce and the pasta filling were lovely though.

For dessert I had a pancake filled with custard and topped with an amaretto sauce. It was gorgeous.

The service throughout was pretty good, although we did seem to have quite a few different waiters throughout the evening. We're planning to go back some time and, when we do, we're going to make sure we get a table in the "conservatory" area.