At the beginning of the month I was lucky enough to have Little Chick home from University for a couple of days over the Bank Holiday, along with My Sister, Brother in Law and Niece, Twiggy.

As shown in a previous post, I wore the fabulous May dress and red cape sent to me by the lovely Dolly and Dotty.

We had decided to go out for a nice meal, and invited my Mum to join us, along with Baby Bear’s boyfriend.

In one of our local towns, there is a marvellous restaurant that I have been going to since I was a  child, and my children have been taken there since they were small too. The Palmichael has been there for over 35 years and has been a staple of the village. A real family oriented business.

For some reason, we hadn’t visited for around 4 years, which was a serious oversight. The restaurant serves some of the nicest food that I have ever had. A very classy Italian restaurant, which a huge selection of dishes and the loveliest family owners.

We were welcomed into The Palmichael like long lost family. Back when I was a child, Angela and Vincenzo ran the restaurant together. Now it has been taken over by Maria and Michael, their two children. The ownership and decor might have changed, but the amazing food hasn’t – In fact it has got better!

The 10 of us arrived to a beautifully set out table, complete with fresh roses and little wooden boards filled with oil and balsamic vinegar. Warm hunks of Ciabatta were offered, along with bowls of olives.

I had spent some time prior to the evening looking at the menu, trying to decide what I was going to choose. I am terrible when deciding on my choices, and I get worse as the waiter gets closer to asking me what I would like. Thankfully, I had decided prior to the meal and wasn’t going to deviate from my choices.

For my starter I opted on the Mozzarella Corrozza – Fried mozzarella in herb bread crumbs, warm vine tomato sauce, balsamic dressing & basil pesto. This arrived on a beautiful rectangular plate, with mixed salad leaves and was absolutely beautiful. Thin triangles of lightly fried mozzarella – melty gooey wonderfulness on a plate. It didn’t take long for me to polish it off!

My favourite dish on the menu is the one I chose for my main course. The Filetto Rossini. This comprises of a beautiful piece of fillet steak (cooked rare) topped with chicken liver pate, on top of a toasted crouton. This is served with a Barolo red wine jus. Just perfect!

(excuse the less than pretty plate – I had already dived in when I realised I hadn’t taken a picture)

The main course comes with potatoes of the day and seasonal vegetables, In this case it was sauteed potatoes and carrots, green beans and brocolli. I also had to order a portion of their handmade onion rings. These are just amazing! Thing shoestring onion rings, crispy and just perfect.

The steak was perfectly cooked. Beautifully seared on the outside and lovely and red inside. The red wine Jus was thick and full of flavour. It really complimented the rich pate and finished the dish off perfectly.

After finishing my meal, I was just too stuffed for a dessert, which is a shame as their desserts are some of the best I have ever had. Most of the family did succumb to a tasty treat, with the White chocolate and Raspberry pannacotta being the most popular choice, however a couple did have just a liquer coffee. I unfortunately was so pleasantly full I decided against anything extra.

We sat for a little while talking and letting our dinner digest, before it was sadly time to leave. We paid the bill and made our thanks to all the staff for an amazing night

Angela and Maria were the most amazing hostesses’ as always. They made the evening very special and a real treat. You would be very hard pushed to find a warmer welcome anywhere else!

As I said, It had been quite awhile since we had been to the restaurant, but it won’t be too long before we return again.

Do you have a favourite restaurant? What kind of cuisine do you like when on a night out?

Till next time
Tx

**Thank you to The Palmichael for permission to use some of their stock photos**