Bici-Café, The Gill, Ulverston

ONE week after its opening my colleague Holly Harrison, Millom Reporter, and I decided to try out Ulverston’s latest addition to culinary finery.

Bici-Café opened in The Gill during the second week of September and we so we decided to book a table and avoid any awkward disappointment of being turned away on our Thursday evening jaunt.

Firstly upon arrival, the café/restaurant looks fantastic. Just the right amount of sleek style combined with that signature Ulverston quirkiness.

It was a wise idea to book as the restaurant was full and there was a great atmosphere when we arrived for our 8pm sitting.

After having a bit of a natter about cat videos and wedding planning, which are Holly and myself’s preferred conversation topics, we eventually got round to ordering.

Holly was tickled pink with a rose lemonade and I got a boring coke (no wine because of course we both had reporting duties early the next morning and one simply cannot report on a hangover).

For our starters I chose a salad of tomatoes and burrata. Holly decided to go for a meat platter, as when we are not talking about weddings or cats, we generally stick to the safe topic of how much we enjoy a good bacon bun or fillet steak.

Bici-Café serves freshly ground Cumbrian-sourced coffee in a bistro style in the afternoons and is an Italian style restaurant of an evening.

This suited me perfectly as I am a fiend for Italian food. Italy is my favourite country and after spending most of my summer holidays in Tuscany I hope that I can tell when something tastes authentically Italian.

I can best describe burrata cheese, as I did to Holly, as a very creamy and rich variation of buffalo mozzarella.

The burrata at Bici-Café didn’t disappoint – it was beautifully presented and absolutely delectable. Holly was also very pleased with her meat platter, especially the San Daniele ham, which was described by our waitress as a very fine, upgraded sort of Parma ham. Perhaps it was because we didn’t eat until 9m but both Holly and myself could have eaten double the portions of our starters and we had to request bread which we were just slightly fazed by.

Holly’s rave review of the San Daniele ham boded extremely well for me as I had ordered a pizza topped with that same ham and rocket. I couldn’t say a bad word about my pizza, it was lovely and Holly reported the same favourable result of her pizza, which was topped with salami and mushrooms.

The staff were incredibly helpful, pointing out anything we didn’t understand on our menus and staying attentive throughout our meal.

I particularly loved the decor in the restaurant, especially the cycling memorabilia, as my family all love a bit of cycling and it was once my brother Marc-Gabriel’s dream to open his own cafe for cyclists. The fairy lights were a stunning touch and the owners really made the restaurant feel like the place to dine in Ulverston.

I would definitely go back to Bici-Café. It reminded me very favourably of my all-time favourite Italian restaurant, That’s Amore, which is situated in a teeny tiny space in Monkstown, south Dublin.

Overall I would say that Bici-Café, with its wood fired ovens, serves the most authentically Italian food in south Cumbria. The pizza bases are thin, light and tasty and all of their ingredients taste good quality and fresh.

By Gabrielle Rowley

RATINGS

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

Value for money: 3

Pros:

Attentive and friendly staff

Authentic cuisine

Innovative decor

Cons:

The starters were small for their pricing