Breakfast at Carluccio's

To me, they are a completely alien species.
They don't appear to have the live alarm clocks in the shape of kids, nor do they seem to have come from the early morning church service. And yet there they are, at 10am on a Sunday, queueing -- yes queueing -- for breakfast. I honestly don't know if they've always been there or if it's a new trend. Pre-baby, I was rarely if ever out at that time on a Sunday morning.
In Islington, they have pretty good taste, snaking along Camden Passage outside the Breakfast Club, or further up Upper Street, crowding into Ottolenghi. Both serve good food but I would question whether either is worth queueing for (especially if you consider that people rarely rush their Sunday breakfasts, so you could be waiting for quite a while).
I do hunger badly and possibly do queueing even worse. So we went to Carluccio's, which, mercifully, had plenty of free tables.

From the fairly compact breakfast menu I chose the eggs benedict (£7.65). The yolk in the poached eggs was golden and beautifully runny, the ham was thick and flavoursome and the hollandaise was quite passable. I am not sure why they put olive oil on the bread but it didn't really harm the dish.

The husband went for scrambled eggs and mushrooms on toast (£6.75). Carluccio's does mushrooms especially well (I love their mushroom pasta) and this time they also didn't disappoint.
The coffee was a little bitter for my taste, but it was nothing that a bit of sugar couldn't fix.
The service was quick, the baby was asleep and there were plenty of Sunday papers to linger over -- bliss that you don't have to queue for.


Carluccio's, 305-307 Upper Street, Islington, N1 2TU; Tel. 020 7359 8167; carluccios.com

Polpetto

Strange or unusual dishes beckon me from restaurant menus with an almost irresistible force. In its grip, I have found myself picking at a greyish, mushy plate of brains in a Bulgarian restaurant in Moscow and tucking into a gamey but not entirely pleasant giraffe burger (the animal, not the chain) in Camden Market.
More successful forays have included nettle soup at the now sadly defunct Ambassador in Exmouth Market and, most recently, dandelions at Polpetto.

Polpetto has squashed some dark wooden tables into a small, cosy room above the equally crowded French House pub in the centre of Soho's hustle and bustle. It's been open for a little over a year, receiving praise for the food and taking other criticism on board - the originally tapas-y menu has been split into small and large plates (starters and mains to you and me) and it's now possible to book.

The stalks of dandelions added a delicate, flowery and slightly citrusy crunch to a delicious plate of rigatoni flavoured with "wet walnuts". It turns out that wet walnuts are the super seasonal young fruit of the tree, which dry out into the more familiar variety with age. And very good they were too.



Given that Polpetto means "baby octopus" in Italian, I also felt moved to order the octoped. It came as a carpaccio starter, bejewelled but nor overpowered with fresh red chillies (£6).

The brief, description-free menu gives diners the option of asking the waiters for advice/translation or -- as we did -- going for a lucky dip approach. Tempted by smoked anchovies, we thus took a gamble on its unfamiliar accompaniment, puntarelle. The gamble paid off, with the arrival of some tasty green shoots of the chicory family.

Among the mains, we also sampled the squid (£11.30) - with a delicious if slightly overpowering char grilled tang - and the Italian classic of pork in milk (£10.30). The meat was meltingly tender, with notes of aniseed and chunks of white bread all but dissolved in the juices.

Largely ignorant in Italian wine, we washed down the meal -- one of the best I've had in London since returning -- with carafes of the very drinkable house red, and pledged to come back again soon.

Polpetto, Upstairs at The French House, 49 Dean Street, London, W1D 5BG; Tel. 020 7734 1969 polpetto.co.uk
Cost: around £30 a head for two courses with wine

Ciao Bella

Ciao Bella is enormously popular - on a wet, miserable Tuesday evening even the barely-sheltered outside tables are abuzz, and the two stories indoors also fill up. There is an old school, traditional Italian hospitality vibe - it's the kind of place where you feel you should know the owner.



I arrive first, and they willingly bring out my tap water, as well as plates of olives and chunks of gutsy parmesan (but be careful - though unbidden, these will appear on the menu at £2.50 a pop). We dither over the lengthy menu and luckily decide to skip on the starters.

The main course platefuls of pasta are ginormous - each enough to feed two or even three pretty hungry people. The meatballs in spaghetti con polpette (£7.20) are as big as potatoes, while spaghetti all'aragosta (by the far the most expensive thing on the menu at £15.50) comes with what looks like an entire lobster. Of the four of us, only one comes anywhere near finishing, though not through dislike of the food. Even the signature tagliatelle "Ciao Bella" (£6.80) is surprisingly tasty despite mixing salmon with dolcelatte. The valpolicella (£14.50) is very quaffable lubricant for a pleasant, low key evening.

Everyone should have a good local Italian, and Ciao Bella fits the bill very well. It would work as well for a large group as a loved up couple. Plus, being Italian, they happily welcome children too. My loyalty, though, lies firmly with Venezia and its dolcelatte steaks.

Ciao Bella, 86-90 Lamb's Conduit St, WC1N 3LZ; Tel. 0207 2424119 www.ciaobellarestaurant.co.uk

La Porchetta Pizzeria

We were in Camden for a gig, and I'd hoped to preceed this with dinner at Marine Ices which sounds like a hugely fun, old-fashioned parlour-type place dishing up pizzas and sundaes. Alas, in old-fashioned manner it is also shut on Mondays.
By this time I'd worked up a serious appetite for pizza, so we ended up in Porchetta a couple of blocs down the road. It's part of a mini chain, and looks-wise is pretty unmemorable apart from some pictures of piggies in primary colours. But we did (accidentally) manage to snag the best table in the house. It's not a concept I normally carry much truck with, but we were sat upstairs, directly overlooking the open-plan kitchen and the mastery with which the two chefs tossed their creations.







We started with olives, which I thought were decent enough, though the husband was unimpressed as they'd clearly been stored in brine. My four cheese pizza was huge very nice, and surprisingly light for that particular topping. I'd say it was the closest to real Italian-style pizza I'd had in a long while. The husband, foolishly I thought, overlooked the pizzas in favour of a risotto. The advertised 'wild' mushrooms were in fact the bog-standard closed cap variety, while tomatoes -- which were not mentioned in the menu's description -- provided the over-riding flavour. Overall it was edible, and tasted better than it looked, but that's not much of a compliment. We had Italian larger from an unexciting drinks list. Bizarrely the place doesn't seem to have a website, and the waitress took back the hand-written receipt, but if memory serves me right it came to about 30 quid.
Conclusion: I'd come back for the pizzas and the theatre if we are in the area again on a Monday -- but I hope it will be another night of the week so I can try Marine Ices instead.
La Porchetta Pizzeria, 74-77 Chalk Farm Rd, NW1 8AN; Tel. 020 7267 6822; Tube: Chalk Farm

Demartino

A friend was DJ-ing at a rather nice pub called The Albany near Great Portland Street a few weeks ago, so we took the opportunity to seek out dinner away from our usual haunts. There were lots of Turkish places but I was fresh from my month-long cheese fast and some grilled slices of halloumi were unlikely to satisfy. There was also The Villandry, where we once had a perfectly nice if overpriced brunch (though to be fair this was many years ago, before I'd really got used to London restaurant prices). Still, it looked empty, and I'd read some mixed reviews of it, so we settled on Demartino – a reassuringly full-looking Italian.
Inside their were black and white shots of film stars like DeNiro (was he the Rob referred to in the menu, where the Rigatoni with Tuscan sausages and meatballs is described as “Rob's favourite”?), and a large, neglected-looking accordion in one corner (whose long-since-played demeanour made the music-loving husband very sad).


Even though they are not in season yet, I chose the fresh asparagus topped with parma ham, buffalo mozzarella with balsamic dressing (8.00). It was a huge, fresh-tasting plate, though I was a bit surprised at it being served cold. The husband opted for a competent insalate tricolore of buffalo mozzarella, avocado & plum tomatoes (8.00).


For my main, the spinach gnocchi with four cheese sauce (7.00) was ample, and perfectly fulfilled my craving for formaggi. The husband had delicate yet meaty wild boar ragout on a mount of pappardelle pasta (9.50). (Incidentally, I once remember seeing an entire book devoted to which sort of pasta goes best with which kind of recipe – though it's not something I've ever tried to implement at home. To me, it seems, that a bit of cooked dough is a bit of cooked dough, whatever way it's shaped.)
Throughout, the place had a lovely, family-run, regulars-filled kind of vibe of a good neighbourhood joint, as well as a reassuring smattering of Italian visitors. With a bottle of OK wine, we got off at under 50.00. Sure, it wasn't stellar enough to warrant a separate trip but we might well return if there's another gig at the Albany.

Demartino, 196/198 Great Portland Street, W1N 5TB; Tel: 020 7436 2547; Tube: Great Portland Street; www.demartino.co.uk

Metrogusto - a new discovery

We had been to see Ratatouille at the cinema and, craving some hearty French or mediterranean fair, set off up Upper Street towards Sacre Coeur or Le Mercury. Just before reaching the former though, our attention was caught by a place that looked a bit like an art shop but actually seemed to be full of people eating food at candle-lit tables. And so, only about 5 years after it opened, we discovered Metrogusto.

Inside, the walls are decorated with dozens of large, colourful canvasses. My favourite was the giant squirrel with a manic look in his eye. The atmosphere is warm, romantic even. We ordered a bottle of prosecco (£24.50) and tucked into some delicious warm bread rolls with sun-dried tomatoes. The yeasty dough pleasantly reminded of Russian pasties, pirozhki .

(photo from another visit)

On Sundays and pre-theatre they have a good value two-course menu with two courses for £14.50. From this, the husband's grilled aubergine with pesto sauce & toasted walnut bread was luscious and earthy - comparable perhaps, we thought, to Rémy's ratatouille. My eyes (and belly) had been tempted by the a la carte, so I started with the "flat asparagus pancake with parmesan sauce" (£7.50). Perhaps foolishly I had actually envisaged a green pancake made from asparagus (I've made some lovely aubergine pancakes at home), sprinked with parmesan shavings. Instead, I got some normal asparagus tips wrapped in a pancake and smothered in a creamy balsamic sauce. It was nice, but not as nice as the grilled aubergine (plus I couldn't taste the parmesan - never a plus for a cheese fiend).

And, darn him, the husband won with the main course as well - baked chicken breast with gruyere & oregano sauce. Now here the cheese was very clearly present in all its melting gooey gorgeousness. But best of all was the chicken itself - beautifully juicy, and cooked not for a second longer than was needed to stop it from being pink.
That said, my veal ravioli with butter and sage sauce (£12.50) was also very good. Aong with chicken (so easy to overcook), I think ravioli make a good test for truly great cooking, as all to often they just taste of stuffed pasta and you can't quite tell what the stuffing actually is. Here though, I could both see and taste juicy shreds of gamey veal inside the large discounts of home-made tasting pasta.

The people at the table next to us were raving about the basil ice cream which came with their chocolate cake. But sadly we were too full to even contemplate trying this (I knew we shouldn't have had the popcorn). On the plus side though, that gives us a very good excuse to come back - and soon.

Metrogusto, 13 Theberton Street, N1 0QY; Tel. 020 7226 9400; Tube: Angel; www.metrogusto.co.uk

Venezia

Clerkenwell is full of Italian eateries (not surprising for an area that was once dubbed "Little Italy"), the vast majority of which seem to showcase depressing mediocrity (which is surprising). Like the rest of them, Venezia is unlikely to win any Michelin stars, and I've never seen it mentioned in guidebooks or newspaper reviews. But that doesn't stop it from being a rate gem, a five-star local Italian. It's the kind of place where the owner recognises and welcomes you, and many of the diners are regulars. The pasta dishes are tasty and comforting, and for those on a budget the £8.95 two course set menu (including coffee) is a good bet. But for our money (about £16 of it), nothing beats the tender, beautifully rare fillet steak, smothered in dolcelatte cheese sauce -- perfectly accompanied by crispy saute potatoes and, for a token dose of health, spinach (side orders are around £2.50 each).



If you are hungry, start with the best bruschetta we've tasted - two generous slices of bread, piled high with fresh, olive-oil infused tomatoes (£2.95, the picture above is of half the portion, the husband being too hungry to wait for his share to be captured for posterity). Order the house wine (at £10ish, it is unspectacular, but goes well with food) and your steak feast could come in under £60 for two. It's perfect for those (Friday) nights when you are too tired to go out properly, but also too tired to cook and in need of a treat. It's also the kind of place where you'd be made very welcome on your own.

Venezia, 3-5 Goswell Road, London, EC1M 7AH; Tel. 020 7490 1715; Tube: Barbican

Bertorelli

An Italian chain, brought to you by the Sante team of Chez Gerard and Livebait fame. This is a city branch, handy for lunches, but generally a bit dead at night. You can sometimes takes advantage of good deals they offer to attract dinner-time visitors, or of the vouchers available via the Sante mailing list (sign up on www.bertorellis.co.uk). The antipasto platter (£14.50) is huge, offering a varied selection of meats, cheeses and roasted vegetables. It's a plentiful starter for four or a light-ish lunch for two. The rest of the menu centres around meats, fish and pasta, with mains in the £10-15 price range. The food is competently executed but nothing special and on our last visit the service was a bit scatty.

Bertorelli, 1 Plough Place, Fetter Lane, London, EC4A; Tel. 0207 842 0515; Tube: Chancery Lane; www.bertorellis.co.uk; and other branches

Strada

I sampled this London-wide Italian chain for the first time only last week, and wish I'd done it sooner - it's infinitely preferable to the Pizza Expresses and Asks of this world. The first nice touch were two resealable bottles of ice cold tap water which arrived on our table as we sat down and we replaced throughout the meal. I chose a Manzo pizza with gorgonzola, rocket and thin slices of beef fillet (£8.95). It was delicious and huge. The butternut squash risotto was nice, but a bit too vegetably for me. The seafood risotto on the next table looked delicious though, sprinkled with plump prawns and unshelled mussles. A more adventurous order of Seared Yellow Fin tuna (£10.50) proved surprisingly tasty - usually in chains I tend to stick with fool proof pastas and pizzas, but the tuna was tender and accompanied by an interesting, zesty salad. The house wine was perfectly drinkable and the service was swift. All making Strada very useful stand by to know about.
Strada, 88-90 Commercial Street, E1 6LY; Tube: Liverpool Street. And locations throughout London. http://www.strada.co.uk/

L'Artista

This is a buzzing Italian in an unpromising location on a busy road, round the corner from Golders Green tube station. Inside the place opens up to reveal a large venue, served by authentically Italian waiters. It attracts large groups and the party atmosphere can be a bit loud, but there are quieter corners too. The menu is quite large and varied (there are even non-cheese pizzas for the freaks who don't like cheese). I had a house speciality - half pizza, half calzone. Half the pizza is folded over to give a calzone with a large smile kind of shape. It was huge and delicious - there was enough left over for next day's lunch, which for about £7 was not bad at all. My companion's mushroom pasta looked rather less appetising, though she said it was good. The house red (about £10) was perfectly drinkable. All in all, a good place for a cheap tasty pizza - perhaps best with a large group.
L' Artista, 917 Finchley Rd, Golders Green, London, NW11 7PE; Tel: 020 8731 7501., Tube: Golders Green

Carluccio's

Carluccio's branches do vary - with their plastic tables and occasionally too harsh lighting they can be a bit reminiscent of greasy spoon cafs. But unlike greasy spoon cafs they sell yummy Italian delicatessen type foods in the shop at the front and also offer pretty delicious meals. Best of all, the menu offers you the chance to buy your very own vespa. I have been to Carluccio's a number of times and have come to the conclusion that by far their best dish - and one they do better than any other Italian I've tried - is pasta funghi. For £5.95 you get a large plate of wide strips of fresh pasta, with a good selection of buttery wild mushrooms and a sprinkling of parmesan. The rest of the food is OK too, but every time I try to be more adventurous I always miss the pasta. Wash it down with a bottle of prosecco (Italian take on cava, less fizzy and more delicious, £19.95). They also do OK panini for take away lunch, though at about £4 these are far less of a bargain. Service not included in the bill.
Carluccio's, 5-6 The Green, W5 5DA; Tel. 0208 566 4458; Tube: Ealing Broadway. And many other branches throughout London. www.carluccios.con