THE FOOD REVIEW: Le Otto Campane, Bartholomew Street, Newbury
Located in one of Newbury’s oldest buildings, Le Otto Campane is a new restaurant that promises to serve “traditional, honest, Italian” food.
Le Otto Campane literally translates to The Eight Bells, which is taken from the name of the 16th Century public house in Bartholomew Street in which it resides.
The historic building is a perfect location for this high-class restaurant.
The porch entrance and dark wooden beams adding to a pleasant atmosphere of nostalgia that pervades through Le Otto Campane.
There are murals of Italian churches on the walls, alongside paintings of parmesan, olives and other ingredients.
The soundtrack underpinning a typical evening dinner service is made up of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin classics.
This all combines to create a lovely ambience, and it only gets better with the addition of the restaurant’s food and service.
I visited Le Otto Campane with my mother Elizabeth on a Thursday evening and it was good to see that the restaurant had plenty of midweek customers.
We were welcomed in by Bez, the restaurant’s manager. Born in Albania and raised in Milan, his cheerful and amicable character is matched only by his extensive knowledge of the Italian cuisine he serves.
The menu — which is cooked up by a group of chefs with over 50 years of experience in the industry — is as typically Italian as you can get.
There are several pizza and pasta options, a wide variety of starters, meat and fish dishes, side plates and desserts.
For drinks, there is an extensive Italian wine list alongside some Italian beers and notable cocktails.
When deciding what to eat, I didn’t know where to look due to all the different choices. And to add to that, Le Otto Campane also regularly has a specials menu as well.
To start, I chose polpette al sugo (£12) which are meatballs in tomato sauce finished with rocket and parmesan.
These tasted like proper home cooked and prepared meatballs. Bursting with carnivorous flavour and lathered in a tasty sauce, I felt like I was eating my imaginary Neapolitan grandmother’s superb cooking.
My dining companion chose one of the specials, which was a vegetarian concoction based around a large Portobello mushroom, goats cheese, salad and pesto — a lovely and light starter.
For our mains, we both chose pasta. My mum is a coeliac and had a gluten-free pasta dish with a tomato sauce, chicken and vegetables.
You wouldn’t be able to tell that the penne tubes were gluten-free, which is always a massive plus for those with dietary requirements.
I ordered one of the day’s specials which was spaghetti with prawns, crab, garlic and chilli (£18.50). However, I was presented with something even better — the prawns and crab was replaced with lobster!
It was a pleasant surprise that I certainly enjoyed. The seafood was perfectly cooked and tasted great alongside the al dente pasta.
The dish had a bit of a spicy kick too, as well as several explosive cherry tomatoes that added a sweetness to the whole affair.
It was a bloody great plate of pasta.
We finished off our meals with a refreshing blob of lemon sorbet (£2) and a slice of torta di mele (£7.25).
Torta di mele is an Italian apple pie served hot and flavoured with honey and cinnamon. The tanginess of the apple balances with the sweetness of the honey, and it tasted delicious with an added scoop of gelato.
We were treated to two small glasses of limoncello to finish, and this made me think that I wasn’t in Newbury at all.
The entire dining experience transported me to a traditional trattoria down a side street in Rome, Florence or Naples and I really didn’t want to leave.
Le Otto Campane delivers on its promise of being traditional, honest and Italian. It may be slightly on the pricey side, but it’s worth it for a place that feels a cut above similar restaurants.
I implore all those interested in Italian fine dining to visit and enjoy the experience. Buon appetito!
Le Otto Campane, 1-2 Eight Bells Arcade, Bartholomew Street, 01635 947222, https://www.leottocampane.co.uk/
