Thanks to a one of my best friends local to London, I ended up getting to try almost the whole menu. He told me it's possible to order the whole menu because 1) we can 2) we want to try everything 3) no judgment zone. Surprising enough, ordering the whole menu didn't break our budget (when we split by 2). He also knew I'm a foodie and that my fellow Yelpers is a kind of friend to have. How crazy are we? Enough.
First off to start the night, I was wowed by the popularity of this place. My friend and I had arrived and there was a line to just get on the wait list! He assured me it was worth it so we waited in line for another 1 hour 45 min wait. In that wait time, we walked around the market, had some snacks and drinks, and came back eager to take our spot. I read about the restaurant during that time too, and it definitely looks up and coming. The texting system was new at the time, but very effective to bring you back right when your table is ready as you explore the area.
Ambiance? Simple yet effective. It's a small place, but keeping it simple is never wrong. We were lucky enough to be on the top floor a table or so from where we could watch the pasta get made. Everything looked fresh and full of flavor. Since we ordered almost the whole menu, here are some of the highlights of the meal and what I'd order again.
For the appetizers, I still think about the Bruschetta with cannellini beans & salsa rossa. So rich, many flavors, eat with bread, just WOW. It only made me wish I could find a way to have this at home. Got to investigate that. The burrata pairs great with the bread and well worth the 2 euros to get that bread. I even saved it for when pasta dishes started rolling out!
Then we ordered all the pasta dishes from Pici cacio & pepe and after that on the list. This dish is something I never had before, let alone didn't know what it was. I was pleasantly surprised at the different flavors of the dish and how thick the noodles were. This was what my friend was excited for me to try the most and his personal favorite. It was creamy but not overwhelming, which was a pleasant surprise.
Tagliarini with slow-cooked tomato sauce we almost didn't get because it was "too simple". Funny enough, this one makes top three for me. I'm a simple person and the flavors resonated with me. Tasted very rustic and only thing we could've seen was some meatballs with the noodles. The tagliarini reminded me of Asian noodles for its size but I loved getting that Italian bite of slow cooked tomato. Sweet tasting but not too sweet, and I ended up taking down 75% of that dish.
The next two in round 1 were Fettuccine with Cobble Lane Cured Nduja, mascarpone & lemon and the
Ravioli of Neal's yard Westcombe ricotta with Fontodi olive oil & sage. Though they were delicious, our only comments and memories of this were the fettuccine had a lot of lemon, and the ravioli was great for my friend, but too peppery for me. Despite this feedback, we finished it all because it was still good!
Next up in round two, my favorite of that and overall was the Pappardelle with 8 hours Dexter beef shin ragu. The meat is soft and right consistency to what I'd want. I could taste that the beef took many hours to prepare. I'm a sucker for flat thick noodles like pappardelle and they made this one so well. They brought this one out towards the end and we rallied to finish it with a full stomach!
Tagliarini with Dorset crab, chilli & lemon was the last one brought out. We had a few bites (and my friend who doesn't like seafood didn't realize it had crab in it). The flavor is definitely unique and one I have never seen with pasta. Lots of lemon and peppers to complement. Had I not been so stuffed I would've likely done more damage to it, but we took it back to go. It was a valiant effort.
So after trying majority of the menu, having wine and aranciata with it all, this wasn't the meal that broke the bank on my week in Europe. In fact, it was reasonable and I could imagine this being a great date night with a deal. That's the thing, everything here was prepared simply but with love and quality. And that's what counts in a restaurant for me. I can't wait to return here next time I'm in London. Maybe I'll beat the wait and get there early! (And maybe next time we'll order just not everything) read more