Spitalfields

A delicious and very colourful Antipasti board started us off on our Italian gastro journey. Proscuitto, Salami, Olive Tapenade, crispy flat bread flavoured with rosemary and a tasty bruschetta that would have benefited from riper tomatoes, but nevertheless it was still a good start to the meal.

Some Strozzapreti pasta followed with spicy sausage, broccoli and chilli. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the chilli gave the dish a warming finish.

Quattro Stagioni Pizza followed. Fabulous crisp, light base with generous toppings of ham, mushroom, artichoke and sausage. A good example of this classic pizza and definitely one for somebody with a big appetite.

Saltimbocca Maiale was an escalope of Pork which would have been better if it was thinner, but it was nicely cooked and served with a very smooth mash and some crunchy green beans. A delicious sage jus came with the dish, but it needed more.

The class act of the meal followed. Orata Al Forno. A fabulous Sea Bream that had been cooked perfectly in the oven with lemon. It was served with salad which had a very good dressing and some Rosemary and Onion Potatoes.

Risotto Zucca that followed was not so successful. The rice was overcooked and the dish was generally under seasoned and a little too greasy. The pine kernels were a welcome touch and added some texture. The Squash and Pancetta did not give the dish sufficient lift.

Desserts were delightful. Bunet Piedmontese was similar to Panacotta and was flavoured with chocolate, almonds and crushed amaretti biscuits. Pistachio Ice Cream was smooth and velvety and could have done with having a stronger flavout but delicious none the less. Afogato, ice cream with a shot of espresso coffee was a good firm texture and the coffee had a full and intense flavour.

The tasting meal was a good success and we enjoyed and full bodied Chiant Il Carro 2011 with the food. All dishes were very well presented on some very attractive china.

The ambience of Spitalfields Strada is very relaxed and inviting. Sage green and brown colours compliment the table mats and quirky lights. Non invasive music adds to the sophisticated feel the room has.

A return visit is definitely planned.

We booked a table for 4 and arrived on time, the staff that welcomed us were friendly and polite, they knew straight away from the telephone booking that we were there for the taster menu and took time out to explain how it would work.

We all loved all of the starters, my favourite was the antipasto platter but I would happily order any of the food again. The olives were beautiful and even the lady in our party who claimed not to like olives tucked in.

Our mains were delicious, we loved the thin pizza although the favourites were definitely the Risotto zucca and strozzapreti pugliese. There were huge quantities of food so you couldn’t possibly be hungry afterwards and the quality was lovely. The Sea bream (orata al forno) tasted lovely but we did struggle with some of the bones so perhaps a small suggestion would be to serve this with the bones removed by the kitchen.

All of the desserts were amazing and we couldn’t possibly choose between the Affigato and the Pistachio gelato - both absolutely incredible. I’d say that we were all fighting over them if we weren’t so full up by that stage.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was fab, busy enough that we didn’t feel like people were listening in on our conversations but quiet enough that we could hear each other clearly. The staff were professional, friendly, courteous and dilligent, they made sure that we had drinks, checked the quality of every dish that was brought out, answered our questions patiently and were all absolute stars.

All in all we had a brilliant night out and would definitely come back to Strada Spittalfields in future.

Thanks Strada :)