Reviews of Sasso

Sasso is an Italian restaurant on Prince's Square in Harrogate. Accessed from the road down a couple of short flights of steps, Sasso has both a lunch and dinner menu. On a chilly winter's evening, we were looking for authentic Italian cuisine, and on entering the restaurant we were given a warm welcome by the genial owner. The restaurant was empty when we arrived, and was only about a third full when we left, this meant it lacked a bit of atmosphere, I suspect that at a weekend, Sasso would be packed. The food more than made up for it though, as we perused the menu, classic tunes from artists like the Bee Gees played on a loop. The menu had a fantastic variety of dishes, almost an impossible choice, but in the end we started with Bruschetta to share, that came with green and black olives, fresh tomatoes with pepper, olive oil and balsamic, with a roasted garlic bulb. A good selection of complimentary flavours, the strong garlic cloves melted like butter!<br/><br/>Mains wise, so many tempting dishes with wonderful ingredients, I'm sure we'll return to sample more. My wife went for the Angel Hair spaghetti, with sliced aubergines and a rich tomato sauce, a great dish but the cheese layered on the aubergines overwhelmed their flavour somewhat. I went for the homemade pasta tubes with chicken and pancetta, in a cheese and curry sauce! I know it doesn't sound right, but the owner assured me I'd made a good choice, and he was right. The curry flavour was subtle and the whole mix of ingredients worked perfectly, a hugely impressive bowl of food. We did order a side of roasted vegetables, with basil pesto, lovely, but not necessary, the mains were huge, as well as flavoursome.<br/><br/>Both of us were on the full side, we could have stopped after the mains, but there's always room for a dessert. The chocolate terrine with coffee crème anglais was rich and tasty, and my wife's homemade lemon tart with limoncello sorbet was just as impressive. A great meal, just what we wanted, I'm just glad that the walk back to the hotel helped allay my feeling of fullness somewhat though.