Lauro's Brasserie, Fareham
Lauro's Brasserie has been a fixture on Fareham's High Street for many years.
The friendly Filipino-French restaurant is run by Filipino chef Lauro and Carole, his English wife.
If you hadn't stepped foot in Lauro's for a decade you would still be met with the same furniture and dcor from past visits.
There are solid pine chairs and tables with a few darker wood ones, plus Filipino filigree-type wall lighting, an open plan kitchen, a bar and some sofas.
Continuity is the name of this couple's game. The style of cooking, like the music – crooning hits of the late 20th century – has not changed.
You're in safe hands here, even when Lauro takes a holiday.
His chef of choice turns out well-executed, don't-startle-the-horses dishes.
Little is seen of Lauro's southeast Asian background, apart from a foray or two into spicing or, rarely, ingredients.
The menu offers the likes of king scallops; wild mushrooms and asparagus; Parma ham and melon or a smooth liver parfait with apricot and ginger for starters.
For mains, choose from a set lunch menu (10.50 for two courses), an a la carte (mains around 15) or set dinner menu (from 21).
Try Gressingham duck with stem ginger and a beetroot sauce; duck confit; haddock with handcut chips; Hungarian beef goulash; calves' liver; home-made pork and leek sausages or, my choice, slow-cooked pork belly.
Can't resist it. That oozing fat, that crunchy crackling, that melting meat.
Warm breads are served in Chinese bamboo steam baskets, odd but charming.
Service, by the Italian manager, is as it should be: assured, friendly, polite and professionally efficient.
But what's with the chargers, those '70s and '80s wooden plates on which first and main course plates are served? That pork belly didn't disappoint, the meat totally moreish, the crackling however a tad chewy, the dark ruby sauce a thing of beauty.
Re-heated dauphinoise potatoes rarely work, the heat just not getting to the core of this slightly dry potato stack.
Vegetables in a side dish were perky enough. The cauliflower florets, mange tout and carrots all needed a little pepping up with some butter and seasoning.
Dessert was a fine crme brule with stem ginger and cinnamon biscuits.
Don't expect cutting-edge cooking here. Sometimes the best tunes are the lasting ones, Lauro's safe, friendly, charming approach making his restaurant one of the best bets in the Fareham area by far.
My bill came to 14.50 including a glass of excellent Languedoc red.
Carol is a chef, former restaurateur and editor of Savour, the Guild of Food Writers magazine.
Lauro's Brasserie, 8 High Street, Fareham PO16 7AN
Open: 12–2pm and 6–10pm Mon-Sat
Food: ****
Service: ****
Atmosphere: ****
Disabled access: Narrow door for wheelchair users, but fine once inside.
How to get there: Take the M27 to junction 11, follow the Fareham signs, exit on to Quay Street at the main roundabout, turn right into West Street then left on to the High Street, Lauro's is on the left. On-street parking.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -4 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -5 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
