Where the salami slice fails, the Orkney Scallop crudo leads the way, dissolving in the mouth with sweetness-intensified roasted grapes, soft caramelly crunch from toasted pine nuts and aromatics from herb-intensified EVOO… READ MORE
All tagged Italian
Little Duck The Picklery
I’m not nearly so honourable when it comes to the next plate that offers up a fresh take on mozzarella, with stewed flat piattone beans and sweet datterini tomatoes, fresh mint and topped with the crunch of fried breadcrumbs. It’s a dish that offers a titanic blow for blow battle of textures and flavours… READ MORE
Tropea
By sight alone I know it’ll delight and it does exactly that; with perfect on the bite, caramelised grilled octopus, crispy potatoes, and a decent dollop of ‘nduja aioli providing a light kick of heat, and with sweetness coming from roasted Calabrian peppers and Sicilian datterini tomatoes… READ MORE
Laghi's
I’ve no plate envy whatsoever, with my herb flecked pappardelle, topped with a white ragú of slow braised shreds of lamb. It’s surprisingly light and fresh, allowing the sweetness of the lamb to rightly do all the hard work, although there’s a third too much pasta than the sauce requires… READ MORE
Campania and Jones
Across the table we’re split 3:3 with a large single raviolo filled with squash puree, featuring a slab of roasted squash, an appropriate puddle of butter and a decent layer of Parmesan. My three plump balls of pillowy, sweet ricotta have a heavy spike of nutmeg but not quite enough sage butter… READ MORE
The River Café
Generous slabs of seared, dissolve-in-the mouth meat, with salty crunch from crisp fried rashers of pancetta, sitting on top of a stew of slow cooked tender broad beans in their skins, artichoke petals and greens, with freshness from lemon and sage. It’s a dish that’s pure spring… READ MORE
Manteca
And then those two ordinarily scene stealing plates of pasta find themselves outshone by tonnarelli, brown crab, cacio e pepe with the rich, sweetness of brown crab proving to be the dream date for the creamy, salty and peppery spiciness of cacio e pepe… READ MORE
Bocca di Lupo
Squid, so perfectly fried it’s tender as butter, in a light, almost crumbly batter and thinly sliced, crisp-fried pin wheels of lemon providing a delightful sour crunch. Calamari is a dish that’s fallen so horribly into disrepute, I rarely order it elsewhere, but here it demonstrates the Bocca way of simple perfection… READ MORE
Artusi
The spaghetti, tomato, onion, capers is a puttanesca with its whorishness stripped back (no anchovies, chilli, black olives, garlic). I’m a big fan of a full on tarty puttanesca but love the freshness of this, which gives all the limelight to the sweetness of high season tomatoes contrasting against the perfumed tang of capers… READ MORE
Franzina Trattoria
The girls have both gone for the tagliatelle ammuttunata—predominantly baby aubergines and a tomato sauce. They are big plates of pasta and Katrina throws the towel in at the halfway point. Whilst it’s got one foot firmly in the Norma camp, I’m not getting any of the promised smokiness, nor mint in the mix… READ MORE
Legna
When the starters arrive, I see the others have mostly gone for antipasti and it only takes one mouthful to realise what a tragic mistake they’ve made. The ragù has cucina povera in abundance; it’s intensely meaty, beautifully flavoursome and succulent in a sauce richer than the deepest baritone… READ MORE
