Polpo - a Venetian tapas style restaurant
I think I've found it. The restaurant that I would literally order almost anything, and greedily want EVERYTHING on the menu, just to have a little taster of every single flavour combination it offers.
This beauty of a restaurant showcasing this wonderful menu is Polpo, which serves up Venetian tapas style sharing plates in various locations across London.
To start our feast we nibbled on some olives. Not the usual olives we almost always order, but anchovy stuffed olives, coated in breadcrumbs and beautifully fried until crisp and golden, wonderfully salty and deliciously naughty.
The meatballs seemed like the thing to order, so we headed for those next. Disappointingly, once smothered in tomato sauce, the aniseed punch of the fennel struggled to come through our pork meatballs.
The disappointment was soon forgotten however when the clear highlight of the meal arrived: mackerel tartare, horseradish and carta di musica (or to translate - crispy thin flat bread from Sardinia). A delicious dish from the sea, with the bite of horseradish chasing its fin. Adding in the flat bread gave a superb mix of textures to match the mix of flavours.
Being the terribly traditional British foodie that I am, I couldn't stay away from having a typical meat and veg meal and ordered lamb with potatoes on the side. Whilst the potatoes were nothing to write home about (I mean you can't really go wrong with rosemary and garlic potatoes, can you?), the lamb, served with caponata (an Italian aubergine stew) and basil was delightfully tender and grilled to perfection. The sharpness of the capers and tomatoes within the aubergine stew contrasted wonderfully with the sweetness of the basil.
Basil was also a key component with my chosen dessert too when it was paired with a strawberry panna cotta. Not something I had ever experienced before, but it provided a pleasantly refreshing, yet creamy dessert to end a very filling and all round, fantastic meal.
I have been very complimentary of my visit to Polpo, and have very few negative points to make regarding the food. Reading previous reviews however, my one piece of advice would be to avoid busy periods or, like me, visit the Farringdon branch on a weekend, else you will probably be packed in, elbow-to-elbow.
Yelly-fi-felly-food-belly x
The menu is fairly sizable and once you've confirmed with the waiter what is an acceptable number of dishes to order* (avoiding that embarrassing restaurant moment where you over-order and a continuous stream of food begins to head towards your table, whilst you frantically start eating, stacking plates and hiding the evidence...) Anyway, when you've found that number, the menu is simple - you fancy meat, fish, or veg? Little nibbles or bigger plates? Completely up to you, and if you make the mistake of not ordering enough then fear not - just order more and it will come out as and when it's ready.
To start our feast we nibbled on some olives. Not the usual olives we almost always order, but anchovy stuffed olives, coated in breadcrumbs and beautifully fried until crisp and golden, wonderfully salty and deliciously naughty.The meatballs seemed like the thing to order, so we headed for those next. Disappointingly, once smothered in tomato sauce, the aniseed punch of the fennel struggled to come through our pork meatballs.
The disappointment was soon forgotten however when the clear highlight of the meal arrived: mackerel tartare, horseradish and carta di musica (or to translate - crispy thin flat bread from Sardinia). A delicious dish from the sea, with the bite of horseradish chasing its fin. Adding in the flat bread gave a superb mix of textures to match the mix of flavours.
Being the terribly traditional British foodie that I am, I couldn't stay away from having a typical meat and veg meal and ordered lamb with potatoes on the side. Whilst the potatoes were nothing to write home about (I mean you can't really go wrong with rosemary and garlic potatoes, can you?), the lamb, served with caponata (an Italian aubergine stew) and basil was delightfully tender and grilled to perfection. The sharpness of the capers and tomatoes within the aubergine stew contrasted wonderfully with the sweetness of the basil.Basil was also a key component with my chosen dessert too when it was paired with a strawberry panna cotta. Not something I had ever experienced before, but it provided a pleasantly refreshing, yet creamy dessert to end a very filling and all round, fantastic meal.I have been very complimentary of my visit to Polpo, and have very few negative points to make regarding the food. Reading previous reviews however, my one piece of advice would be to avoid busy periods or, like me, visit the Farringdon branch on a weekend, else you will probably be packed in, elbow-to-elbow.
Yelly-fi-felly-food-belly x
*The acceptable number of dishes is 2-3 per person. I'd go for 3. Plus dessert ;)
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