L'Italia a Tavola

3B Monson Road,
Tunbridge Wells TN1 1LS Map

We've popped in to L'Italia a Tavola for a coffee occasionally and my wife picked up and excellent picnic basket in the summer so we decided to try the Christmas meal that they offered.

The subtly lit tiny restaurant and warm welcome offered a very nice cosy refuge from the cold outside and we were presented with a bellini each along with olives and bread as soon as we were seated.

My starters was a really nice lentil and vegetable soup, very Italian and an excellent beginning to the meal. My wife had a chicken broth with meat filled tortellini which she said was nice, but to be honest, mine looked and smelt a lot better.

Next, came a mushroom crespelle with a mushroom and truffle sauce. With my love of all things fungoid, it was perfect for me and it was very, very tasty. It came with a rocket and parmesan salad and, as I'm not a huge salad lover, my wife half-inched it and declared that it was an excellent example of her favourite salad. The meat main course was venison with a redcurrant sauce (I think) which my wife enjoyed and said was very good.

I finished the meal with a cheese platter which was, again, very good although something like a fig or other sweet fruit would've been a nice accompaniment and a coffee.

All in all, it was a very pleasant evening. There were only four tables eating (it is a very small place) but everyone kept themselves very much to themselves. It would've been nice if there was some interaction between the diners, and maybe a touch more festive music or something. We made an effort by pulling our crackers and wearing our hats, but we seemed to be the only table that did. Not to worry, the food was still extremely good and, from my experience of Italian fayre, very authentic.