Baci

Bury New Road, Whitefield, Manchester

Baci is the latest addition to Whitefield’s restaurant scene. I was somewhat underwhelmed at the thought of gaining another Italian eatery, as we’ve already got them in abundance: Porada, Amore, Mezzaluna, Roma and Ivanos are all located within walking distance of each other.

Baci is the third restaurant in an already established group. There’s a sister venue in Harwood, with the same name, and another in Egerton called Ciao Baby. The group have brought one of their chefs to Whitefield with them to serve up wood fired pizzas and modern Italian dishes. It may be in a prime location, opposite Slattery’s on Bury New Road - but it seems a strange choice for an existing brand to open another restaurant in an area with so much local competition.

  

After visiting for the first time in their opening week, I’ve already concluded that they won’t have much to worry about. With an extensive menu, a cosy interior, friendly staff and superb quality food, it’s a welcome addition to Whitefield. It’s sure to give Porada a run for its money, especially as it’s noticeably cheaper but still delivers the same top-quality Italian fayre.  

It’s a vast a la carte menu, with an overwhelming selection of starters, pizza and pasta dishes alongside meat and fish-based main courses.

To start, I had Involtini Di Pepper: a yellow bell pepper stuffed with rice and vegetables, topped with melted Mozzarella cheese, oven-baked in a tomato sauce. It was a deliciously tasty and satisfying starter and a generous-sized portion too.

Invvoltini Di Pepper

For my main course, I had Fusilli Al Pesto Baci, one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes. I absolutely adore pesto, so any dish cooked with this magic ingredient leaps off the page and begs me to try it. It has to be the green variety though, which luckily this menu specifies. I’ve previously ordered pesto pasta dishes in restaurants, only to be disappointed to find it was the red alternative.

So, what’s the difference?

Green pesto is traditionally a blend of basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesan cheese. The red alternative uses less basil, instead mixing in tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, whilst the pine nuts are substituted for almonds. The tomatoes tend to overpower the other flavours, so it’s less exciting.

Here, the pesto-infused pasta was tossed with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts and topped with parmesan shavings. Sun-dried tomatoes add depths of flavour and texture to any dish, complementing the pesto beautifully. Refreshingly, it was a generous bowl of pasta which left me feeling full afterwards. I love pasta and, in the comfort of my own home, I can hoover up mountains of the stuff, so I’m often left feeling disappointed by the somewhat measly portions in restaurants. I’m happy to report that wasn’t the case here.

Fusili Al Pesto Baci

After two deliciously satisfying courses, I could have skipped dessert. However, there were not one but two specials of the week and their pulling power proved too great. The first of the specials was honeycomb cheesecake. Cheesecake is my ultimate favourite dessert and I’ve eaten enough of it to be a little bit picky. This was the perfect texture: creamy but well set and not stodgy. It was loaded with chocolate chips and piled high with the likes of Malteasers and other similar honeycomb malted balls, delicately drizzled in chocolate sauce and accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is surplus to requirement with a cheesecake, but enjoyable all the same.

Honeycomb Cheesecake

Talking of ice cream, they have a fine selection on the dessert menu, allowing you to build your own sundae-style dessert by selecting a range of flavours.

The other special of the week was Sticky Toffee Pudding. The old British staple which you don’t see very often these days. It looked a little dry when it came out; I don’t know about you, but I like my pudding drowning in toffee sauce. However, the light, airy sponge had been soaked plentifully and was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which melted away on the top.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

The majority of the desserts were only £4.95, so doubly hard to resist. It was a lovely way to round off a gorgeous meal.

Baci hit the ground running in its opening week. Despite tough competition, it’s already established itself on a level playing field with the likes of Porada and has become a firm local favourite. Top quality food at a reasonable price, friendly staff and faultless service is all you can ask for.

The extensive menu can be viewed online: https://www.baci-whitefield.com/.