All in Italian
The onglet with salsa verde splits the table. I’m OK with it, cooked just right and the accompanying salsa verde gets a real sweet and fatty lift from bone marrow… across the table—a cook-on-fire master—the verdict is “no seasoning; no taste; no caramelisation”… READ MORE
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
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
The orecchiette sits in a puddle of oil that would have Doctor Foster worried, with strands of leafy, mustardy friarielli sauteed in garlic and chilli and this looks the part, but it’s way over salted. But that’s insignificant compared to the pasta that I refuse to believe has been made fresh in the kitchen or even by hand… READ MORE
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
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
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
Thick ribbons of perfectly al dente ‘home made’ pappardelle with the intensified meaty hit of 12 hour braised beef shin ragù and a heavy dusting of 24 month Parmesan. Mopping up brings even more pleasure by accentuating the sweetness of sun-dried tomatoes and oily crunch of the focaccia… READ MORE
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
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
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
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
