Over in Tottington, Carmelo's has been serving the people of Bury and beyond for well over 30 years now. They've been owned by the same family throughout this time so are clearly doing a lot of things properly and are well loved in the locality.

I've eaten at Carmelo's dozens of times over the years and always had a great time, as anybody who lives in north Bury also likely has.  For full transparency as ever, Ill add that the GM at Carmelo's is my 'little' Nephew, who's suddenly 6'4 tall.  But until this review I'd bever visited during his employment, somewhat shamefully, so thought that it was time to put an end to my poor form.

When you land it's a lovely spot inside and there's plenty of free parking too.  The decor is a touch DIY in places sure, but then that's the very charm of indies and it broadly feels like a cozy independent that's having a go at the mid-range type vibe, with general success to be honest.

Looking over the menu and pricing is reassuringly sturdy and fully in line with that aforementioned vibe, especially for non-city centre venue.  £12 for most starters, £18 for their selection of risotti, getting up to £17 for some pizzas and pastas.

To start off, we didn’t snap all the starters because to be blunt this review was never initially going to happen as it was captured during a family Sunday lunch.  I almost didn’t take any photos at all.  But as I'm doing more and more recently, figured why not write things up anyway.

We ordered the gluten free garlic bread (£8) with cheese as a little pre starter snack.  I feel that in many ways even reviewing a gluten free bread is immoral, because by its very nature the lack of gluten instantly means that you're doing to get something just a bit stodgier and heavier than a product that’s made with gluten.  But to be fair, this was some of the better GF breads that I've had as of late so whilst it was intrinsically just decent at best, that's still a lot better than many GF efforts.

Calamari (£12) was a good sized portion with a handsomely trimmed lemon wedge; something which I always pay attention to as the little details matter.  A nice punchy garlic aioli came on the side paired well with that deep fried richness.  A nice start to things, and a dish that's hard to not enjoy.

Ribs (£12) may not have looked great in our badly lit photo, but there was no questioning the quality of these.  Super tender and sauced properly parting company with the bone without any work at all.  A flavour packed plate.  But lose the oddly paired sesame seed dressing.  This is an Italian after all.  The Chinese restaurant is just over the road.

Breaded Mushrooms (£11) surpassed the other starters in terms of size, served in a simply massive portion.  The flavour delivered as well as the portion size, with their crispy coasting carrying great texture.  Some proper seasoning and careful plating, along with token side salad, completed the crowd pleasing dish.  We had zero complaints and these disappeared in no time.

Spaghetti Polpette (£17) was a more than ample main course.  A generous portion of well cooked pasta with a ton of lovely, firm yet juicy meatballs, coated in a tomato sauce which had clearly been made with a lot of love and patience.  I'm a big believer that the bedrock of any Italian restaurant's product is the quality of its base tomato sauce, and this was very solid indeed.

Chicken Supreme (£20) featured a bone-in chicken breast as the name suggests, and was cooked over charcoal, with solid char marks to evidence that.  Some green beans and a mushroom acted as garnish, this was a steady plate that would please most people's tastebuds.  Simple, to the point, and tasty enough.

Tagliatelle alla Pollo (£18) was another dish that most people would enjoy with gusto.  Another considerable portion of pasta that was again cooked as it should be, dressed in deliciously creamy sauce with plenty of chicken and an earthy hit from some mushrooms.  Simple, tasty, and delivered just what it said on the tin.

And my personal menu choice; since I was off the clock there was no shame at all in ordering my favourite pizza topping in the world!  For those who don't know me well, which is 99.999% of you since I don’t ever use my name on their pieces, then that's tuna, plenty of fresh chilli, and pineapple.  And this was a truly good pizza.  Generous toppings with a really pleasant base, properly prepared in house and  baked to a charm in Carmelo's pizza oven.  I'm assured that the kitchen openly questioned Aunty's day job, which to be fair is understandable based on my unconventional lunch choice.  Again, this article should never have seen the light of day.  Maybe one day I'll wish that it hadn't.

But; even family don’t escape our truthful honesty in feedback.  The wine list contains a frustrating lack of detail so unless you order the predictable Cloudy Bay or Whispering Angel, you have no certain idea what you'll receive.  Im sure that most people who pay £63 for a bottle of Amarone would expect to know more about it than it just being simply an 'Amarone'.  Also 'Verve Cliquot' and 'Pecornio' need spell checking.  Sort it out Jamie or Auntie will be back with her notepad and red pen, even though I'm not quite as scary as your Mum. 

So it's clear to see why Carmelo's has been a local favourite for decades now.   It's not cheap for the locality, but the venue is lovely, it's in a great little place over at a pretty corner of Tottington, the menu is rammed with dishes that are generally hard not to enjoy, and the service is as warm and welcoming as you'd expect in a local Italian, ie you feel as if you're being welcomed by family.  To be fair, on this occasion I literally was.  But putting to one side any professionally reined in bias here, everybody table around us was receiving exactly the same treatment.

In the current climate especially, you don't survive for very long without getting an awful lot right, and Carmelo's continues to do just that even after 30 years.