Evening Times Review 2nd October 2008
SOFAR,SOGOOD,SOHO
New Italian is unpretentious and friendly with superb food
THE MOLL eyed me suspiciously. “The last time you told me we were dining with royalty,” she sneered, “you took me to Burger King. So don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes with this one.” My reputation, it seems, precedes me. I’d only suggested to the good lady that a trip to Soho was in order. The last thing on my mind was a trip down to the Big Smoke. “Listen,” I snapped back at The Moll. “ If I want to get ripped off at an over-priced tourist trap, I’ll take you to Edinburgh.” I crunched the gears on the Tecmobile and settled into a huff. “I’ll show you,” I muttered weakly under my breath. It had been one of those weeks. TheMoll was in a mood because the affect of the credit crunch on her shoe budget meant she was reduced to buying only one new pair a week – a cardinal sin in the fashionista’s book.
By the time the old jalopy was berthed, my mood had lightened slightly. The Soho on my mind, I tried to explain to her highness, was far from seedy and over-hyped – it was a newly opened Italian joint inMiller Street. Billed mainly as a pizza and spaghetti house, it seemed like the perfect remedy to warm the Moll’s cynical heart.
Once we had descended the steps into the cosy restaurant, I help to speed up that process
by ordering a couple of rum cocktails. They may have been packed with ice but I could already feel her mood melting.
The large basement restaurant is friendly and unpretentious – a bit like its menu – and we sat at one of the many large leather booths to survey the surroundings. Soho is far from a tacky Italian and there was no hint of the usual stereotypical decor.
There were no red and white checked tablecloths or Dean Martin music playing in the background. This is modern decor with traditional grub. However, grub is too rough a word for the, er, grub. This joint was soon to prove itself as a slice above the usual pizza and pasta factories.
Once we’d made light work of the delicious cocktails, we were ready for our starters. The small plates of antipasti were small enough to encourage us to share a few, tapas-style. “Oh, I think we can manage
three between us,” theMoll
winked at the waiter. We chose garlic king prawns, a generous portion of plump prawns panfried in garlic, parsley, lemon and chilli, as well as a
couple of lighter vegetable dishes– asparagus with lemon juice
and parmesan, and char-grilled
aubergine and courgette with a
deliciously smooth mozzarella.
All three hit the mark and
signified the quality to come.
It only seemed fair that while
theMoll preferred a daily
special of fresh pesto and rocket
spaghetti, I did my investigative
research work and sampled one of
the pizzas.
Neither dish fell short of delicious,
although theMoll did gripe
about the pasta being a shade on
the dry side. But there were no complaints with my pizza.
A world away from thick-based,
stodgy imitators, this thin crust
beauty was the genuine article.
Topped with spicy Italian
sausage with oregano, tomato and mozzarella, I could have devoured two of them – and probably would
have if theMoll hadn’t been there.
I haven’t tasted such an authentic
pizza since our Tuscan sojourn
two years ago.
We lingered over the rest of
the wine in favour of a dessert
and chatted intermittently to the
friendly staff.
It almost felt like we were one of the family.
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