Address: 12 Wargrave Road, Twyford, Berks RG10 9PG

Telephone number: 0118 934 2698

Website: N/A

Date of visit: 17 April 2011

Approximate cost per head: From £15 for 2 courses. Pasta and pizza main courses under £10

Comments on wine list/beer: Peroni  @ £3.50 a bottle. Basic wine list. Barolo available at over £30 a bottle

Cuisine: Italian – especially  Pizza and pasta

Summary:

This is a “neighbourhood” looking restaurant by the main cross road in Twyford, near Waitrose. They have their own car park – just behind. Our High Street used to be full of “trattoria” like this before the chains squeezed them out. I recall Mama Mia in Reading and Henley in the 70s and 80s – after the song but before the musical. They do good basic food at a very reasonable price.

I have driven pass it many times and thought that I’ll pay it a visit as I was taking my daughter and her friend en-route to a rugby match (as spectators).

The inside is very strange, pink with marble top tables and walls adorned with theatre masks.

On the day we went, they had a Sunday buffet lunch – roast chicken. The a la carte menu was available. I do not like restaurant/ pub roasts as the vegetables and roast potatoes tend to be soggy for being kept in a warmed up tray.

The a la carte menu is mainly pasta and pizza. They do have a page of starters with all the usual favourites and a page of non pasta main courses- steak and fish but no veal.

We opted for the garlic bread (£3.25) and calamari (£5.95). The garlic bread was a proper small flat loaf with a foaccia  texture, smeared with garlic butter – just the way I like it, not a baguette or a pizza base.

The calamari was again excellent – best squid I had for a long while – from a non Chinese restaurant. You get rings and tentacles.

For main courses we had 2 lots of spaghetti carbonara and one lot of rigatoni amatriciana. The portions were large and the girls could easily have shared a portion between. I had the amatriciana which was good and rich but could do with a little more chilli – for me anyway. The pasta were all cooked el dente.

The total bill including drinks came to just under £42 (no service charge). I am very impressed!

E

PS There is a small fountain in the porch hence Fontana.

Location:The Town Hall,  Wokingham, RG40 1AS

Web site: http://www.thecourtyardwokingham.com/

Telephone number: 0118 979 4040

Date of visit: 20 January 2010

Approx. cost per head: £15-25

Comments on wine list/beer: Fairly wide choice ave. £20 a bottle. The Rothschild Viognier is a nice white with pasta dishes.

Media link:

Review:

Arguably one of the better restaurants in the small town of Wokingham, tastefully yet simply furnished and styled.

The Courtyard is located close to easy parking and lies within the old town hall, in Market Place. There is plenty of al fresco seating when the weather is good, providing an ideal setting for a social coffee or light lunch.

Not as charming or as welcoming as its sister restaurant, Dolche Vita in Reading, The Courtyard still offers an enjoyable and traditional Italian menu. Perhaps not the place if you want to while away a few hours as the service can be a little forced and hurried at times, but more than fair for a local evening meal.

The starters are usually quite substantial, making the average cost of £7-8 more justifiable. Having sampled quite a selection of the meat and pasta dishes, yet to find anything disagreeable, although some of the pasta dishes can be a little bland or forgettable. An average pasta dish is around £8, pizza £10 and meat dish £17.

Dave Lamont

Address: High St, Wargrave, RG10 8HY

Telephone number: 0118 940 4474

Website: www.stgeorgeanddragon.co.uk

Date of visit: 27 December 2009

Approximate cost per head: less than £20

Comments on wine list/beer: Fairly extensive wine list with coverage over Europe, Americas, Australia and New Zealand. Wine by the glass is possible on certain wines. Beer is supplied by Loddon.

Summary:
This restaurant/pub is sited on the Thames just outside Wargrave – on the way to Henley. During the summer weekends, the place is packed.

The inside of the pub is a huge room with square tables for dining and round low tables for drinking and dining. When you book, be sure to ask for a square table as the round ones could be a bit low.

The food can best be described as an upmarket US diner with quality food. You can have salad, pasta, pizza, fish, steak, chicken etc….

Between us, we had the pizzetta which is a thin crispy pizza bread topped with shaven parmesan cheese and rocket. For main course, we had the salmon fish cakes, haddock & chips, burger and spit roasted chicken. The meals were served with fries (thin) – no salt (great). Vegetables were extra: from £1.95 for peas, cabbage and leeks.

On Sundays, they also offered a selection of roasts but I couldn’t sight anyone eating the roasts near us. The special of the day also offered scallops which looked very nice on the next table. The other tables were eating: pasta, pizza and & chips. The main courses were all priced at around £10 plus and the starters around £7.

This is a place where you can get a decent meal and the range of food on offer would cover most tastes. This is not haute cuisine.

The wine list had no vintages which suggest that you would probably get the most recent vintage. The price range from £15 to just under £40 with a pink Moet & Chandon, Amarone and a Chassagne Montrachet at the top end of the list. The Moet is good value for money as its only 100% mark-up whilst I would stay off young Amarones which tend to be very sweet (good as a desert wine). When they are aged (15 years) and browned out, they are great with game.

Ample parking outside the pub.

Eddie