Earlier this year, Sunderland was named the best city in the UK for independent restaurants and it honestly comes as no surprise. We’re so lucky to have so many wonderful eateries in the area and one that we visited recently is Marcellos!

Situated on Albion Place, Marcellos is an Italian restaurant that has been serving the city for a number of years. I remember visiting many moons ago and enjoying, so was really happy to be invited back with Adam.

Staff were welcoming and wonderful from the start greeting us with a smile and were attentive throughout our whole visit. The restaurant is super cosy with a lovely, relaxing atmosphere, chilled music and candlelit tables. Whether you’re after a date night, catch up with friends, family party or work lunch – Marcellos suits all your needs.

The menu offers a wide range of authentic Italian dishes which made it so hard to decide what to order…we were spoilt for choice! There are so many veggie and vegan options too. Luckily we were offered complimentary breadsticks and olives with our drinks while we perused the options, and weren’t rushed at all which was nice. Drinks wise I went for a nice Italian aperitif…an Aperol Spritz of course! Adam stuck with a nice pint of Moretti.

We finally made our minds up and ordered…

STARTER

Adam went for Bruschetta Pomodoro (v) – Toasted bread topped with tomatoes, onions, basil, garlic and extra virgin olive oil (£4.95).
I went for the Calamari Fritti – Deep fried crispy squid served with aioli sauce (£5.95).

Starters went down an absolute treat! Adam’s bruschetta was so fresh, my calamari was perfectly cooked and not chewy like it often can be.

MAIN

There were several dishes I could have happily ordered for main course but I decided to go for a classic… Spaghetti Carbonara – pancetta bacon and cream (£9.95). The chef asked if I’d like it creamy or the authentic Italian way with egg and obviously I chose the latter! The carbonara was honestly one of the best I’ve ever eaten and I’d highly recommend. I’ll be dreaming about it for days!

Adam went for the Penne Amatriciana – pancetta, garlic, chilli, onion in tomato sauce (£9.95). The dish was full of flavour and he was very happy with his choice.

DESSERT

At this point I think we were maybe being greedy but when the dessert menus were placed in front of us, we just couldn’t resist! Adam ordered his favourite Sticky Toffee Pudding – Indulgent dark treacle based toffee sponge topped with a generous helping of luxurious sticky toffee sauce and caramel fudge pieces served with vanilla ice cream (£5.90), I decided on the Apple Pie – A short crust pastry lattice tart filled with layers of apple served with vanilla ice cream (£5.90). Adam’s STP was rather delicate, not dense, and my pie was the perfect mix of tart and sweet.

Our whole meal was absolutely delicious and the experience was so enjoyable from start to finish. The food is more than reasonably priced and the quality of food is excellent. If you’re looking for somewhere to eat pre-theatre, Marcellos offer 15% off one of your meals with a valid theatre ticket for that day (minimum spend £14). You can also enjoy food from the restaurant at home by ordering for delivery or collection!

Huge thank you to the team for a lovely evening and delicious food, we’ll definitely be back.

If you want to find out anymore info, check out the menus or make a reservation – you can check out the website here.