Padella, 19th September

I’ve been itching to get to Padella. I never used to be a huge pasta fan, but ever since having some silky smooth and buttery pasta at Vasco and Piero, I have been searching for other Italian places to give me the same experience (preferably for less money).

Padella is the fast-serve pasta place from the guys behind Trullo. It’s small and trendy, and doesn’t take bookings so queuing is the name of the game. Unless you can get there early. At 6 pm on a Monday we could have waltzed in except for the fact that one of our number was late and they only seat complete parties. As the clock ticked by to 6:30 we were getting antsy – we had an Escape Game to get to at 7:30 and were running out of time to eat! We were considering suddenly saying we were only a four after all but the girl seating people took pity on us and let us have a table as long as we ordered for our friend while we waited. Luckily, just as we sat down, she turned up. 

The good thing about this place is that pasta is a quick dish to make and even the one which required a bit of  a wait (mine) was only 15 minutes or so. We were in and out in half an hour! Which might be slightly annoying if you had queued for over an hour in the first place but really suited us.

The butternut squash and sage butter ravioli I think spoke to most of us, with all of us considering it at some point. That was partly why I ended up choosing the cacio e pepe so that we didn’t all have the same thing. Plus cheese and pepper are two of my favuorite things. The Late One had slow cooked tomato sauce and my friend Amy tried crab for the first time, in linguine.

We had some beautiful bread with olive oil and creamy, squidgy burrata drizzled with even more olive oil and a plate of the spinach, anchovy and chilli to entertain us during the short wait.

When our plates arrived, I cannot pretend I did not have food envy. My plate seemed like a very small portion of ugly worms. Pici is a pasta I hadn’t had before and is, apparently a thicker, tube like form. Looked gross. But tasted very nice. Just cheese and pepper could have been a bit claggy and overly stodgy but it wasn’t at all. Each, chewy piece of pasta was nicely coated but there was no excess. I do wish the portion had been maybe a quarter to a third bigger though.

I had a taste of the tomato dish – as tomatoey as you could wish, and also a bit of the ravioli which instantly filled my mouth with the saginess of the butter. Lovely.

I feel like Padella is more of a lunch place, although if you wanted you could make more of a meal of it by ordering pretty much all of the pastas on the menu and treating it a bit like tapas. And look! Pasta is an anagram of Tapas. Can’t be a coincidence…

Mister Lasagna, 3rd May

Mister Lasagna is one of those one-trick pony restaurants – specializing in… well, I think you can guess.

But the variety it has on offer for its trick is quite astounding. (Italians and purists, you may want to look away now…) There was pumpkin and blue cheese, chicken and chorizo, ‘breakfast’, spinach, artichoke, arrabbiata.. and that really is to name just a few.

You can have a half a slice, a Regular or a Tris – three halves, allowing you to try as many different types as possible for just under £8. I did this and let me tell you, three halves of Lasagne do not make a light meal. I actually had to leave some! I had the pesto, chicken and chorizo and carbonara/breakfast. Taste-wise, all three hit the spot, with the pesto version probably being my favourite. It is just a shame that they didn’t warm them up for quite long enough – they were nowhere near piping through which made them a bit stodgier I think than they would have been otherwise, and by the time I got near to finishing they were basically cold.

The place is definitely casual, meant for a quick dinner rather than a long and lingering meal. You pick your lasagna at the counter and it is served to you on a Styrofoam plate, which you take down to the restaurant bit. If you’ve ordered wine (they had a very pleasing red for £22), they’ll bring that to you. There is a range of table sizes – some twos, one large communal one a few in between which makes the place feel a bit like a rustic kitchen. We really enjoyed the real moss growing behind us.

I did say this isn’t the type of place to linger, but actually, we did just that and no one seemed to mind. Most others didn’t though, which meant table turnaround was quite swift, and we were the only ones left by 9:30 (we’d arrived at 7!).

I was far too stuffed to try any of the desserts on offer but I would happily give them a go. This is definitely somewhere I’ll bear in mind when I want something reasonably priced and satisfying. 

Rotorino, 13th March

I had wanted to go to Rotorino since it first opened but neither of my foodie partners in crime were keen. They may have had a point, as it was a little hit and miss.

My companion was a bit of a glutton and wanted to do it right – a primi, secondi and thirdi course. Plus dessert. I knew I wouldn’t be able to manage that much but was happy to try a bit of his along the way. He ordered the bresaola as his primi, whereas I, of course, couldn’t resist the bread-based starter of ‘Three toasts’ – three rather large slices of bread topped with tomatoes, cannellini beans and cime de rapa (not all at once). These were great actually, but incredibly filling. Each one provided a very different flavour profile and I'm not sure which I liked most. Light and juicy tomatoes, earthy and rich beans or the irony tang of the greens. 

Luckily, I was not a fan of the gnudi we ordered to follow this and contented myself with only one of the rather claggy balls of pumpkin with sage. They sat in a buttery, thick sauce which did nothing to stem the overall stodge. Genuinely did not want to eat more than one of these. One of the most unpleasant textures my tongue has ever been presented.

The pasta with sausage, chilli and breadcrumbs however, was very pleasing and just the kind of buttery pasta dish I enjoy. It was a little light on chilli (as most things are for my tastes) but I liked everything else about it. My friend assured me his steak was very good, and I availed myself of one of the mound of fried potatoes he’d got with it (very apt, considering he is Irish).

We debated about sharing a dessert, which somehow turned into having one each. I had the panna cotta with rhubarb, he had cannoli. The Sopranos were mentioned more than once in this meal.

The lack of delicate presentation aside, for the panna cotta, it was alright – the rhubarb was on point but I was neutral about the panna cotta itself. Mayhap I was just too full to enjoy it.

Visually stunning

And I confess I've never really got cannoli. These ones were the same as others I've had - I could take 'em or leave 'em.

Vapiano, 10th June

A few of my friends had already been to Vapiano and were quite excited for me when I was invited along to review it. I knew nothing of the concept except that it was Italian food. But I do now, and I like it!

It’s a sort of hybrid fast food joint/restaurant – a bit like Nando’s in that you can be in and out within about half an hour if you want, or you can make it a more leisurely meal if you so fancy.

You enter and are given a card and then you place your order at the relevant stations and load up your card. When you’ve finally decided you’ve finished your meal, you take the card and pay for what you’ve eaten.

Everything is cooked before your eyes – hence the ‘fresh’ bit. You have your usual choices of pizza or pasta or something from the oven and you can customize the dishes if you want. Each pasta dish for example allows you to choose the type of pasta you want.

We started with something from the antipasti and salad bar. My friend and I shared a bruschetta and also ordered the special salad of the day, which upon reflection was meant to be a main rather than a starter. It was huge and full of potato and asparagus which was very tasty but also very filling. We barely made a dent in it. The bruschetta was also a jumbo portion. It was a fairly decent specimen of bruschetta – juicy and fresh tomatoes topped with fat slabs of mozzarella.

We found it hard to choose which pasta dish to go for so we had one each and split them. My contribution was carbnoara made with tagliatelle. I actually have thought about this carbonara several times since because I enjoyed it so much! Strictly speaking it was not made the traditional way, as it had cream in it but I am happy to screw tradition to go with what tastes good. We even added chillies as we are such charlatans. We also had the salami and ricotta with rucola which I thought would be my favourite but while it tasted good enough, I kept going back to the carbonara.

We were stuffed to the gills but with quite a bit of persuasion from the host we ordered dessert as well. They do mini versions so we had a mini panna cotta and then we had a normal sized black forest gateau without the cherries. These didn’t have quite the same homemade taste to them, and if I were eating here again I would either skip dessert or go across the road to Princi.

Prices are really good – almost all the mains are under a tenner, with the simplest combination only being £7.00 so it really makes for a cheap but filling dinner. It’s really perfect for when you’re not looking to ‘eat out’ per se, but you’re out and want something to eat. Great concept.

Lardo, 22nd March

Lardo is just lovely. It has perfectly positioned itself as a neighbourhood restaurant and was exactly the kind of place we fancied for a Sunday evening meal out, that was full of fresh and tasty, good food without us going overboard. It’s the kind of restaurant you can just pop to on a whim – no special occasion needed. Except for the fact that if you do that on a Saturday night you will probably find the place full.

And there is good reason for this. As I said, we kept things fairly simple and the food is relatively simple. The menu is quite short but long on Italian specialities. Lardo is a type of cured meat and while they didn’t have just this on the menu they do cure all their meats in house (and it made an appearance on my pizza). We orderered the burrata and lomo (I think) to start, and also asked for some bread. The burrata was so creamy without being soggy, with a good dose of salt and oil (basil flavoured, I can't remember) and the meat was silkily fatty.

After our meat mound at Blacklock the previous night neither of us wanted to go down that route again. Stephen had the grilled mackerel and I had the spinach, egg and lardo pizza. This was such a good pizza - so much flavour. The egg was the right side of over for me, not running all over the place, and no uncooked white. The lardo was placed in thin sheets across the pizza like gossamer, almost hiding among the spinach until you put it in your mouth and it surprised you with its meaty bloom. I thought it might be too doughy and that I would miss the tomato but that wasn't the case at all. You could really taste the depth of the cheese - I enjoyed every mouthful, but there was a lot there so I gave a good fraction of it to Stephen to enjoy as well. 

I was treating us and so dessert had to happen. We had a chocolate tart which came with crème fraiche (bleugh) and was indulgent without being sickly - it was more cake than tart. I'd go back to eat here in a heartbeat. 

21 Covent Garden, 24th March

There has been quite the furore about 'bloggers vs blaggers' and whether you can trust a blog's review if they've been treated to the meal/event/whatever.

To be honest, the number of places I get invited to are minimal, what I write about almost always comes out of my pocket and I've never really had to worry about how much I've been influenced by the 'free' aspect as I've always objectively liked the thing anyway. Plus I do always say when it's been comped and will freely admit that something free always is a bit better than something you've paid for...

To throw my two cents in, I think there is a big difference between bloggers who are invited to something and those who solicit the invitations and try to wangle, literally, a free lunch. I definitely don't do the latter, but I will take up an invitation now and again. This was one of those times.

I don't think I'm doing 21 Covent Garden a disservice when I say it's an 'everyday' restaurant. It's not the kind of place you'd go for a special occasion, although its setting and decor are perfect for a romantic rendezvous. Every table feels like it is its own private enclave and we were really impressed by what they had done with the place (apparently the cellar was previously disused and it was a pretty terrible touristy bar upstairs). The food is all Italian with the pasta all made in-house.

It's the kind of place that is good for Covent Garden - somewhere that a Londoner can go and know they'll have a decent meal, not some swill being served because the place is full of tourists, and they won't get ripped off.

Aperitifs

I was particularly impressed by the cheese/meat board. Special mention has to go to the chutney. I don't know exactly what was in it but it definitely had apples – it was like eating the inside of a spot-on apple pie and I could have scoffed this on its own. It was a delightful accompaniment to the cheeses. Please, can all restaurants serve apple chutney from now on?

There was one cheese on there I hadn't had before and swiftly became a favourite (a creamy yet firm, pale cheese – the one at the back), and we were particularly taken by the peppery finnochiona sausage. We ordered a bread basket to go with our platter – some lovely thin crispbreads, a couple of slices of baguette and some well made focaccia.

I must admit, I'd been out for lunch and after sharing this was already teetering towards being full. I had ordered a fish pasta dish to keep it light, not expecting the ridiculously generous portion that I was served. I enjoyed this dish - I thought the pasta was of good quality and found the buttery sauce unhealthily delicious. I actually just loved the pasta and veggies and sauce on their own – it didn't even need the fish, which wasn't quite as flaky as I would have liked.

Stephen had the lamb ragu which came with some focaccia on the side and also some new potatoes. Given that there were potatoes in the ragu this seemed carb overload and we barely touched the side dish. Stephen wasn't as happy with his dish as I was with mine. The lamb varied quite a lot in size so it wasn't all cooked to the same consistency – some of it was still a bit tough. The taste wasn't as light and tomatoey as we expected, reminding him of a thick tomato-based curry! More of a winter dish this one.

We didn't have any pizza but must admit the stuff we saw coming out looked good – the bases looked pretty thin and crispy anyway!

I really was utterly stuffed after my pasta but our waiter suggested we take a moment and then see if we couldn't fit something else in. Stephen and I decided to share some gelato. We had a scoop each of pineapple, orange and raspberry. These were a good, refreshing choice to end our meal with but not the best gelato I've ever had. The taste to all three was strong – no complaints there – but the texture varied; the raspberry was wonderfully smooth, the orange was the least light, with a consistency that made you feel you were cutting it, and the pineapple was somewhere in between. 

All in all I liked the place. The staff were very friendly and even though we might have had special treatment it seemed like the other customers were also getting a lot of attention. If you find yourself in Covent Garden and hungry, don't despair. 21 Covent Garden with its Italian comfort/home cooking is here for you, with a lovely, cosy and warm setting. 





Find the menu & restaurant information on Zomato

Franze and Evans, 3rd May

Franze and Evans made it on to my list simply because I'm in the Brick Lane area and whenever I walk past it just seems to embody the kind of place I want to love. It looks cute and homely and people sit outside eating brunches of eggs that look tempting. When my friend and I decided to have dinner and drinks recently, this seemed like the kind of place that would fit the bill.

And it was pretty good. It does have a neighbourhood feel to it, there are several larger tables that you can end up sharing with other people and some smaller ones as well. The black and white tiling on the floor reminds you of a continental cafe. Apparently they do good cakes but we didn't really take a look at these.

It took us a long time to choose what to have as almost all of the dishes on the menu appealed. There's a good number of dishes as options - and it caters very well for vegetarians. It's Italian in cuisine but more about the pasta than lots of grilled meats. 

We ordered a fairly basic bruschetta and some squid to start. I really enjoyed the squid - much more than any other squid dish I've tried. It was battered and deep fried with a light touch and was a little chewy but not overly so. This was topped with spring onion and chilli (although it was very light on the chilli).

The bruschetta wasn't much to write home about - we'd got the probably least interesting one on the menu so perhaps the fault lay with us. It was a bit like a small overly bready pizza. 

My friend ordered the spaghetti with clams and mussels. While she thought the pasta was delicious and really commended the portion size on the whole, we both rather thought they'd been a bit stingy with the number of molluscs - we counted all of two clams and she had about four mussels. They're hardly the most filling on seafood anyway. I think you should get a little more bivalve bang for your buck.

My main was a total showstopper though and worth going back to the restaurant for alone. It was artichoke tortelloni with wild garlic, lemon zest and butter and I do believe I'm salivating as I write. Five well-sized pieces of tortelloni drizzled with lemony butter and well stuffed with the delicous filling. The pasta was cooked so that some of the edges were a little crispy. I could have eaten another portion (although the size was perfectly adequate for a main dish). 

With our meal we ordered a house white which was only £18 and outstanding value for money. A very pleasant wine to accompany our meal (making the wine we supped at Brewdog all the more unpleasant).

This is the sort of place you could easily make your 'local' neighbourhood restaurant - where you pop to when you are taken with the urge to eat out and want something reliably fresh, tasty and that won't break the bank. 

Polpo, 30th July

Polpo Smithfield had its soft launch last week if the number of people inside as we walked by was anything to go by, but it officially opened yesterday, and to kick things off they were offering a 50% discount on the total bill. Drinks included! This was too generous an offer to pass up considering I had been wanting to try one of the branches in the Polpo kingdom for some time.

I think Russell Norman was probably at the vanguard of creating these stripped back, shabby-industrial areas for eating, and he has done it again in Polpo Smithfield. We arrived at about 5:45 and were immediately seated at the window table, all of us commenting on how impressed we were with the décor and ambience. I love a place that lets you eat at the bar, yank-stylee. Within 20 minutes the rest of the restaurant had filled and there were people waiting at the bar, or outside with drinks, and we were feeling very pleased with ourselves.

Thanks to the discount, and there being three of us, we were able to sample quite a few of the dishes, choosing three each but sharing most of them, and also getting dessert. Instead of listing them all here, I’ll just dive straight in to what we thought of them.

The favourite dish of the evening was unanimously the cured pork shoulder with pickled peppers pizzetta (above). That truly was delicious. But then, when you think that for a pound less, you can get a huge pizza from Franco Manca, you appreciate it a little less.

I also really enjoyed the rabbit, chicory and radicchio salad – it had shaved radish and thinly sliced red onion and the dressing was fresh and pleasantly tart. It was like having a chicken salad but leveled up. I could easily eat that again. I thought the arancini were pretty good too – nice and crunchy on the outside, a pleasant surprise of some creamy mozzarella (I’m guessing) in the middle, and very herby – thyme and oregano I think. But it needed something to dip it in, some aioli would have gone down a treat. I think the same can be said of the fritto misto (squid, prawns and octopus) – Stephen kept dipping his into the meatball sauce, which suggests it needed something to give it some moisture.

The steak flank with truffle cream, which sounded the most luxurious of all the dishes, was in fact a bit dry and boring. (Not a patch on the one I had on Friday at Flat Iron.) I didn’t really partake in either of the seafood dishes enough to judge them thoroughly. The one prawn I had was nice, and the potato and celery I had from the octopus salad was also fine. But the fact that the guys didn’t feel the meal was outstanding probably shows that I wasn’t missing too much by not eating them.

Of all the various things you can do with meat, making them into meatballs is my least favourite, second only to meatloaf. However, Polpo’s pork and fennel meatballs were on Time Out’s 100 best dishes so I thought ‘when in Rome’ and ordered them. Stephen ordered the veal and porcini versions. They both came slathered in the same tomatoey sauce which Stephen and Ifran thought was underwhelming but which I quite liked. And my veridict on one the 100 Best Dishes in London? Well, I guess for meatballs they were nice, but they didn’t wow me or convert me to a meatball lover. But what do I know? I don’t really like the form. The guys, however, who do, much preferred the veal and porcini, which they seemed to really like.

The cotechino sausage with borlotti beans tasted it good but I thought the texture was too mushy. This didn’t bother the others who gave it the thumbs up though.

And after all that we managed to squeeze in dessert. I had the tiramisu pot, which I loved. I love Tiramisu anyway, but this was a really good version. The guys shared (aww, sweet) a strawberry and pistachio cake, and a couple of cannoli with strawberries. I didn’t try either of these, but when I asked Stephen how the cake was, he said I wasn’t missing much.

So, a bit of a mixed bag then for Polpo. Maybe if I hadn’t already been to Salt Yard last year I would have loved it. As it was, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, though my expectations were extremely high, given all the hype. With the discount applied (and tip only added on to the final discount amount) I was happy with the meal. (It came to £20 a head.) If I’d been paying full price, I think I would have been more irked with what we got. 

I may not go back for the food, but they have a Negroni bar downstairs, which we didn't visit, and I'd rather like to give that a shot.