For those who haven't yet encountered Wildwood, expect warmly modern restaurants (clean designs with lots of stone and wood) with a friendly, semi-formal atmosphere. Think of a more comfortable Pizza Express, a less "themed" Angus Steakhouse and a slightly classier version of your local Grill, mash them altogether and you might be close. The menu covers a modest range of pizzas, pastas, salads and grill items, a handful of complementary starters and desserts, and an extensive range of wines, beers and soft drinks. Prices are around £8-15 for a main, £3-6 for starters and desserts, and £2-6 for drinks.
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| Ely Wildwood |
After some deliberation we decided to share a "Meat" pizza (no messing around with the Italian names here) and a pasta with peri-peri chicken in a creamy sauce. Service was perfectly paced - quick enough to stop you eating your dinner companion (Frankie and Benny's, I'm looking at you), but not so quick that you questioned whether the food was even prepared in-house. The pasta arrived, quite conventionally, in a wide dish. The pizza arrived on what can only be described as a bread board, and even that wasn't quite big enough - we had, admittedly, ordered it in size "giganti", but, to paraphrase my partner, not size "ridic".
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| peri-peri chicken pasta with spinach and cherry tomatoes |
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| apologies for the blur, but you can see how giganti "giganti" really is |
Both meals were absolutely delicious. I'm still recovering from a cold, so the spicy pasta was a flavourful delight to my taste-buds, and the pizza, in all it's meatball-peperoni-ham-salami glory, was equally as gorgeous. The dishes were gladly shared, and tasted fresh and wholesome. Out of sheer greed (and because nearly everything on the dessert menu seemed irresistible), we also shared a Chocolate Sundae (which won in a coin toss against the Eton Mess), complete with Maltesers, Oreo biscuit, chocolate sauce and Bailey's.
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| Chocolatey Sundae-y Bailey-ful Loveliness |
Overall, our visit to Wildwood was a welcome treat, and the service and atmosphere - let alone the meals - far surpassed my expectations. I'm still watching my pennies a little too closely to be rushing back, but it's definitely going to be a restaurant of choice again. Well done Wildwood.
