For too long now London (and everywhere else) has been adrift in a sea of uninspiring Italian chain restaurants, but over the last couple of years a few small islands of imaginative, authentic food have appeared and all of a sudden we are spoiled for choice!
These days you can barely move in Soho without tripping over a Russel Normal restaurant - Polpo, Polpetto and Spuntino have set many mouths a-slobber in Soho lately and 'Da Polpo', soon to open in Covent Garden, is likely to be just as excellent. Thanks to people like him and Jordan Frieda & Tim Siadatan of Trullo, Islington we finally have somewhere to shelter from the abject mediocrity offered by Gondola Holdings and Tragus Group (responsible, between them, for the ubiquitous Pizza Express, Ask, Zizzi, Bella Italia and Strada).
Bocca di Lupo, hiding away on a Soho side-street, is another such Italian eatery that has been attracting rhapsodic reviews since it opened a couple of years ago. A friend and I decided to go and see what the fuss was about.
The trip to Bocca was a little impromptu and I left it until the morning of the visit to call and book a table - stupidly thinking 'It's a Wednesday lunchtime… how busy can it be?'. Very busy, apparently. The only two spaces left were at the bar, but despite being a little short on elbow room, we got a view of the kitchen and could see many of the dishes being prepared right in front of us. Our fellow diners were a mix of business suits and trendy Sohoites and our waiter was very cheery and helpful. Bright green olives, excellent focaccia and olive oil appeared quickly and we set about dissecting the menu.
And what an exciting menu it was! Not only because of the mouthwatering, and often intriguing dishes on offer but also the fact that nearly all of them could be ordered as either small or large portions; meaning than almost any combination of starter and main was possible. Why don't more restaurants do this? Seriously! Another nice touch was that each dish was labelled according to the region of Italy it comes from - just in case you fancy an entirely Ligurian lunch or Sicilian supper.
Neil and I decided on the same starter - Lamb proscuitto, raw broad beans and pecorino fresco. The ham was sliced in front of us on a beautiful hand-cranked meat slicer and presented on a board with beans in their pods and 2 generous slices of young pecorino. The colours were striking and the combination of salty ham, savoury cheese and fresh, slightly bitter beans was simple and perfect.
My pansotti filled with nettle and borage were silky and light but the deliciously rich, coarse walnut pesto they were smothered in made them surprisingly filling. Neil's spider crab linguine was initially described as 'awesome' but on reflection he decided it was a little short on actual crab.
After my pasta and the very generous portion of spinach I ordered to go with it, I was pretty replete but my love for Italian desserts won over and I ordered the blood orange granita. It appeared, a murderous shade of deep red, with a sprinkling of toasted almond flakes and chopped mint and after the first crunchy, juicy mouthful I was rendered instantly speechless. It was at once rich and refreshing, the tart orange offset buy the toasty nuts and cool mint. Once I had finished it and drained the last precious drops of sanguinous juice from the glass I recovered the powers of speech and then refused to shut up about how good it was for the rest of the day.
My friend's combination of 3 white gelati - yoghurt, coconut and ricotta-sour cherry - disappeared in seconds; before my camera (or spoon) got anywhere near them. They left a big grin on his face.
As we were en route to a wine tasting, we eschewed booze and coffee and drank only tap water; even so the meal was not exactly cheap. But the food brought such pleasure, the ingredients were clearly top-notch and the service was great - so we could hardly grumble. 3 courses for 2 people including service came to about £85.
I should mention, that there was a lunch menu of 'one-dish meals' available as well - all of which sounded just as tasty.
Bocca di Lupo seems to me to occupy a clever middle-ground between such places as Polpetto (equally gorgeous food, but more casual and rustic and less expensive) and the more polished and pricey big-guns like Locanda Locatelli, Murano and The River Café. I will certainly be back to sample the sections of the menu that we left untouched - the roasted and fried things all sounded interesting in particular.
I may even drop in from time to time just to get another hit of that narcotic granita!
I may even drop in from time to time just to get another hit of that narcotic granita!
12, Archer Street
London
W1 7BB
££-£££ (depending on whether you are snacking or filling up)
