Sunday 22 August 2010

Polpetto



Polpetto is described as a "tiny jewel box of a restaurant" on their website and it certainly is tiny, only 28 seats, which are probably going to be some of the most sought after in London on the evidence of this soft opening. They've gone to a lot of trouble to source their fixtures and fittings to reflect an authentic Venetian bacaro and the ceiling is especially beautiful.

As most of you will know Polpetto is the sister restaurant to Polpo in Beak Street and the menu follows a similar format starting with cicheti(small eats) and moving onto sharing plates, think Italian tapas.

We ordered up a storm off the menu and there almost wasn't a duff dish apart from the pea, mint fennel and ricotta salad which didn't have much fennel flavour and was a bit bland. But barring that everything was delicious and I have every intention of coming back and working my way through the rest of the menu. Stand outs for me include the zucchini fries(£4.50), thin, crispy and delicious (so much better than the wodgy, greasy things at Byron),

chili and garlic prawns(£7) with a proper kick to them,
and the perfectly medium rare flank steak (£7) with white trufle cream. I do think that they need more light, fresh vegetable dishes to provide balance though, most of the dishes under the vegetable section were carb based (panzanella, polenta, potatoes) which is why we ended up ordering that salad. Desserts and I got the tiramisu, which came in a cute little shot glass and was very good. I have to say that I felt a bit short changed when I saw J's massive slice of flourless chocolate and hazenut cake, I think they may need to even out the portion sizes to stop dessert envy! Next time I'm getting two of the tiramisu. And there will definately be a next time (if I can get a table! They take bookings for lunch but not dinner.) http://polpetto.co.uk/ Tel: 020 7734 1969 49 Dean Street Soho London W1D 5BG Estimated cost per person excluding drinks: £30

2 comments:

  1. Everyone's talking about Polpetto.. I think I should get my butt down there to see what the fuss is all about! Zucchini fries are always a winner no matter where you go (Byron, Sophie's)... and a little tiramisu? Must demand a HUGE one!

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  2. Wow what a lovely blog, will be checking more of writing in the months to come. I still haven't been to Polpeto, it is a total disgrace. Pleased you will join us at the Bloggers Xmas Lunch.

    Luiz @ The London Foodie

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