Restaurant review: Volare, Skelmanthorpe

Jan 29 2010 by Linzi Nicholson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Restaurant review: Volare, Skelmanthorpe

IF you’re feeling the effects of grey skies and January blues after what has been dubbed ‘the most depressing week of the year’ then I can highly recommend a solution . . . an evening out at Volare.

You cannot help but raise a smile when you enter this Skelmanthorpe eaterie – the shelves are covered with Mediterranean paraphernalia and enticing colours of blue and burnt orange invite you to kick back and blitz those winter blues and indulge in a taste of the Med.

This restaurant, run by husband and wife team Nicola Paterson and Martin Corless, opened in 2000 and is situated on the main high street running through Skelmanthorpe.

It already has a super reputation and we were not to be let down.

We ventured over on a grey and misty Monday evening and walking in, it felt like we’d just discovered a secret haven tucked away on an Ibiza beach.

Just a quick word of advice before you bob along for a meal – you may be as well to look at the menu in advance because the choice is exhausting.

Along with a very comprehensive Mediterranean menu, there’s tapas, pizza, pasta and Portuguese Cataplanas (a variety of food cooked in a copper, clam shaped cooking pot) menus to select from.

For starters (from a choice of at least 17) I opted for tuna, borlotti bean and onion salad in an Italian vinaigrette (£5.50), while Dale had whitebait, deep fried, sprinkled with cumin and lemon juice with a spiced Tunisian chilli harissa dip (£5.95) – and they were fantastic.

Head chef Martin Corless has 30 years’ experience, completing his training on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, and he knows just how to serve sunshine on a plate.

His blend of sauces were bright and light, tangy and zesty.

Dale’s whitebait were beautifully light and crunchy and there were plenty of the little rascals, while my tuna was deliciously seasoned.