Eat My Words: We review Giuliano in Crowland

Friday night is traditionally pizza night in my household and not many things can sway it, even if Gordon Ramsay was coming round for tea, he would have to cook pizza.

But having been invited to an Italian restaurant on a Saturday night for an Eat My Words review, we decided to save ourselves for the real deal and had a rare Friday night of spicy chicken wraps instead.

Giuliano in Crowland has been taken on by new owners Daniel D’Angelo and Jason Watson and they have been fully booked ever since and their kind invitation to sample their menu was too good to turn down.

After a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Flatlands Alpacas farm nearby we hopped back on the motorbike and whizzed over to the family-run pizza place for 5pm.

We were warmly greeted by Jason and his staff and sat down, with Brooke (Allen) serving us throughout.

The restaurant is small and freshly decorated and the window seat was great for people watching — with orange trees and black and white photos of landmark Italian cities around the walls.

Chefs are in plain sight cooking at the back of the small but intimate restaurant and on our sunny visit it did feel like we were transported to the continent.

We had some table water and Mark chose a pint of London Pride and I had a non-alcoholic Moretti with lemonade and ice, perfect.

For starters Brooke brought out a wooden board of antipasti, cured Italian meat, variety of cheese, marinated olives with bread, oil and balsamic for dipping.

We also sampled gamberoni piccanti - king prawns in a tomato and white wine sauce which were so tasty with a slight spicy kick.

My partner Mark ordered a lasagne and I ordered a pizza after being advised I could have two different flavoured halves.

I went for half a Diavolina — mozzarella, ham, spicy chorizo, peperoni and fresh chilli — and the other side a classic Giuliano Special with mozzarella, peperoni, olives and fresh chilli.

Brooke also brought out a side dish of potatoes which were salty, herby and delicious.

Mark is a good cook and I am spoiled at home, even if Gordon Ramsay does pop in on the regular to knock up a baguette, so his opinion of food is based on his own love of flavours and cooking.

He chose the lasagne purposely as it is a classic Italian dish and the fact he needed to carb-up for his Sunday morning cycling club — and he was full of compliments for his main course.

It was hot and cheesy and had been baked in a ramekin style dish using fresh ingredients and he said he couldn’t fault it.

Meanwhile, I was getting through a gargantuan pizza which was yummy with melty cheese, spicy pepperoni and olives, which are my favourite toppings.

Read all of our Eat My Words reviews here

I had to request a doggy bag as there was no way we would get through the whole thing.

It would be rude not to sample a little something on the dessert menu though and the ice cream counter offered many inviting flavours of Gelato.

I’m a cheese and biscuits type o’ gal but on this occasion what tempted me was the amaretto cheesecake with Chantilly cream drizzled with chocolate sauce.

And what a wedge arrived…with a portion of hazelnut Gelato that to me was like tasting Christmas in every spoonful.

It was so creamy and flavoursome with a whack of amaretto a bit of a shock to my system.

Over in the blue corner Mark was guzzling away at some lemon sorbet, which was tangy with citrus that left a tingle on the tongue.

We had a cup of tea and coffee to finish. Mark, being a coffee-lover, was impressed with the smokiness of his drink.

Guiliano is a cracking little restaurant in the really quaint town of Crowland and worth a visit to sit in and dine or order takeaway, which many customers did on the night we visited.

We were able to enjoy the evening at our leisure and Brooke informed us that tables are not double booked so that guests are under no pressure to hurry between courses.

Eating wholesome food and chatting with friends and family is at the forefront of Guiliano and this is how we like to eat too - the Italian way.

Out of five:

Food: Tasty pizza and lasagne with an Italian home-cooked feel: *****

Drinks: Mark enjoyed his pint of London Pride (£5) and I enjoyed my nought percent shandies (£5). It would have been nice to see more nought percent wine or bubbly such as Nozecco on the menu. ***

Decor: Fresh and simple with orange trees and photos and some funny jokes to read while in the ladies loo. ****

Staff: Attentive and friendly staff and always nice to have a chat with the chefs *****

Price: We sampled dishes which, for two people, would cost in the region of £20 for the drinks and approximately £48 for the food which is great value in a lovely location *****

Have you had a great meal? Share your own Eat My Words reviews or tell us where to try by emailing: news@lincsonline.co.uk