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| Florentine Paper Menu |
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| Twin Beakers and a Cosy Carafe |
# 19 Goodbye Teens
Snug and Cosy
Having already enjoyed the intimate sibling shuffle between the two popular Soho twins : polpo and polpetto, when finding ourselves down in the camping district, we chanced upon their triplet: Osteria da Polpo. Keen to pitch our grazing tent for the night, we ventured in to see what all the fuss is about.....
The secret of the current de rigueur policy for 'no reservations' is to drop in pronto and watch the queues snake around the door while you happily tuck in.
This is the work of restauranteur of the year Russell Norman, a chap whose been busy opening a little emporium of food eateries, ( Spuntino and Mishkins are part of the family) each having a unique notion and idiosyncratic setting, cleverly avoiding the ignominy of being considered a chain concept. It is easy to see how this family of Eateries has been built upon erudite success and a penchant for canny street placement. Couple this with an assured balance of modernity and familiarity and recognisable touches of elan, such as the florentine-esque paper menus, doubling as place mats.
da polpo breezes through the challenge, maintaining a comfortably relaxed attitude and deals with the bustling frenetic demands of hungry urban punters in a chilled out confident manner. Twinkling candlelights for dinner created intimate shadows, but due to the bloggers preference of old fashioned mobile apparatus, the chiaroscuro has reduced this blog to the imagination.
This polpo team are big on meatballs and offer a variety of winning flavour concoctions. Lamb and Mint balls followed quick fire on the heels of Fennel, Curly Endive, Almonds and a Mackerel Roulette special of the day. Then followed by a chaser of Chicory, Pear and Taleggio. Yum, yum. Score.
Foolishly we didn't elect to wash down the signature 'Nutella Pizzetta' with a 'Jerry Thomas Manhattan', but the offer was there....
da Polpo has a stylish pair of legs, admittedly a bit meaty compared to Legs and Co but certainly a gratifying retreat if your out buying rambling boots.
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