For a small village, Lyndhurst has its fair share of eateries. As soon as one closes, another springs up in its place. But a walk past the window of Fra Noi is enough to stop you in your tracks.
What was once a vivdly coloured Thai restaurant has become a calm serene Italian trattoria, where wood furniture sits next to perspex bar stools and a brushed steel wine rack. It had only been open a week, so when we arrived to an empty dining room on a Thursday night we nearly went elsewhere. But we needn’t have worried.
We were warmly welcomed by owner Anson, who brought us bread and a selection of olive oils to try while we tried to decide what to eat – and there were soon plenty of other people filing through the door.
Anson and his Italian wife Francesca seem to be aiming for the foodie market. All their bread and pasta is made on the premises.
The olive oils are imported from Italy and are not available anywhere in Britain. The menu could look daunting to diners expecting the pizza/pasta/salad combos of a Prezzo or Pizza Express. It’s split into four courses, the traditional Italian way, with antipasti followed by pasta and then a meat course.
The choices of sauces for the pasta is far more imaginative than you’d normally get in a British Italian, ranging from chicory and sausage cannelloni to egg and parmesan soup, a Northern Italian dish.
The wine list featured a good selection, although none of it cheap. We went for a prosecco for £17.95 and very nice it was too.
After much deliberating we plumped to start with crostini with a selection of handmade dips (sausage, courgette and avocado) and polenta with mushrooms. Both were fabulous, the dips with the crostini simple but bursting with flavour and the polenta perfectly textured.
Neither of us felt we had the stomach for pasta and meat courses. But choosing which to have was taxing than it looked. There were only six options for each but they all sounded so gorgeous it took sometime to decide. From the beef carpaccio to the aubergine layered with parmesan and tomato, they are all simple concepts that rely on the quality of the ingredients, Fortunately Francesca and Anson know their stuff. I went for a simple ragu with homemade fresh tagliatelle and my other half went for the cannelloni with chicory and sausage.
Mine was the embodiment of the rule that good food doesn’t have to be flashy; a perfectly seasoned, tomatoey sauce with really good steak mince, and light tender pasta cooked slightly al dente. His was amazing, a combination you might think unusual but worked perfectly.
For dessert we shared a chocolate cake with white chocolate sauce – despite being warned it would take a few minutes as it was cooked to order – which was a delight, a light cake with a rich chocolate sauce oozing from the centre.
The handmade lavender and honey chocolates were exactly what you’d expect from a far more expensive restaurant and although we passed on the coffee I’d be willing to bet they make a mean espresso.
Fra Noi looks expensive. It tastes expensive. The service is friendly but unobtrusive. Anson and his wife obviously care about what they do and the standard they provide. But the bill, with prosecco and water, came to £56 for the two of us. More than Prezzo. But definitely worth it.
High Street, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7BJ, E: info@franoi.co.uk, T: 02380 283 745
