Subject: Dodd's Restaurant, Ambleside Author: Cecilia Campbell Date: 6/7/2010 Body: RATING Total 21 Great atmosphere 4 Home cooked fresh food 5 Plenty of flavour 4 Good value for money 4 Service with a smile 4 Telephone : 015394 32134 www.doddsrestaurant.co.uk Original review: June 6, 2010, for dinner We'd been meaning to try this restaurant for a while, as I met, and really liked, Hungarian owners Valerie and Tomas, earlier this year. We came in for an early dinner with Luke, and got a table straight away – they don't take bookings, so you can always take your chance, even on a busy Saturday night. The food is basically Italian, and Luke went for a child portion of Spaghetti Bolognese. I have to say, it was one of the best bolognese sauces I've had in a restaurant. Martin ordered a pizza Etna, which was supposed to have Bolognese sauce, mozzarella, chorizo, fresh chilli and jalapeno – of course he decided to be difficult and asked for a tomato base rather than the meat sauce. But after tasting Lukie's spag bol, he said next time he'd definitely leave the recipe to the chef. I had linguini with mussels, clams and tiger prawns in a garlic and white wine sauce. The flavour of the sauce and the freshness of the clams and mussels were great, however I think tiger prawns are completely misplaced in a pasta wine sauce like this – they just become chewy and they don't really add any flavour (in my opinion, tiger prawns require light frying with big flavours/spices to really work). Also, I think just under a tenner for pasta dishes (this is what they all cost, not just the seafood one) is a bit much. It was great to see Valerie and Tomas again, and dinner was a really good experience, not least because the food was so clearly fresh and the chef definitely cares about what he sends out on the plate. We'll be back.   Cancel