Fucina

This is my long over due review of Fucina which opened its doors during the second half of 2016. The restaurant is founded by Kurt Zdesar who has been behind places like Ping Pong, Chotta Matte and Black Roe.

When I visited Fucina last year, it aim to bring the concept of Italian dishes made with freshly produce. The menu was split over different section and spread over two pages. Since then the menu has changed being condense on to one page. Whether it’s for the better that is a question mark.

During my visit I tried Straciatella with Mazzara prawn and black truffle (£18). If there wasn’t the soft opening offer, then I would have not ordered the dish with that price. But you won’t have that choice since I no longer see it on the updated menu.

Linguine al granchio (also known as crab linguine) was freshly made linguine served with Devonshire crab, chilli and garlic (£13.50).

The texture and the taste of the linguine reminded me of e-fu noodle (yi mein) which is used in Chinese cuisine and commonly made as a braised noodle dish.

There was a selection of pizza on the menu and I tried one of the vegetarian option, Bufala pizza (£11). The pizza is topped with bufala mozzarella, sicilian pachino tomoto & basil.

Fucina offers a range of grills such as steak and chicken. I tried the Maiale nero pork shoulder (£19.60) that they had on the menu at the time of my visit. For a gold price tag we got a few slices of pork that is served pink.

The meal was completed with dessert. The Panna cotta with pistachio crumble, blueberry and optional grappa (£7.50) was surprising.

In what sense you might be asking. Well it was not the typical panna cotta I was expected. Neitherless, it was a good contemporary concept. Think of as a messy version of a panna cotta but in an artistic way.

Another dessert that I tried was Stefano’s cheese cake served with rhubarb & strawberry preserve (£7.50). Although it looked like an American cheesecake it had a more creamy texture.

Fucina is more of an upmarket Italian restaurant. On my visit it did have a bit of an unfriendly atmosphere. Not what you want to find especially when you want people to be returning or be recommending it to others.

I was happy to pay for the price tag after the 50% off during their soft launch period. But not the full price for some of the dishes which was on the small side.

There are many places that serve authentic Italian food in London, especially pizza for a more reasonable price.

(Menu and prices correct at the time of dining)

Fucina
26 Paddington Street
London
W1U 5QY
UK

Mantovani 1946

Mantovani 1946 is a recently open gelato shop located on Tottenham Court Road. It is a two floors shop with seats available if you want to eat-in.

There is a selection of gelato flavours to choose and the few I sampled were full of flavour. You also have the options in having it served as a cone or cup. In a cup you get to choose the size as well.

I shared a large cup with gelato flavour pistachio and hazelnut. The gelato was creamy and smooth. However, I preferred the flavour of hazelnut over pistachio as in my view other places in London does better flavour pistachio.

However, you probably wouldn’t come here to try the basic flavours. Instead you will want to at least sample Mantovani signature gelato flavour, The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which was the  winner at the 2015 Gelato Festival in Italy. The flavour is made up of pistachio, orange zest, hazelnut and dark chocolate.

The signature flavour does not only comes in the form of gelato but also as a cake. I tried the Kingdom of two Sicilies cake (“Regno delle due Sicilie” cake) which is a mousse cake with a sponge base.

The surprise about the cake is when we got to the centre we found a flow of dark chocolate sauce. The cake is fairly sweet and goes well with a cup of coffee or tea to blanace the sweetness out.

(Not sponsored. Menu correct at the time of dining)

Mantovani 1946
187 Tottenham Court Raod,
London,
W1T 7PQ,
UK

http://www.mantovaniicecreamfranchise.com

Bocca Di Lupo

Bocca Di Lupo is an Italian restaurant located in London Soho. It has been a popular venue since it first opened many years ago. Each time I go pass, it is always buzzing with diners. In the past, I have tried to get a table but never suceed until recently when looking for a place to have dinner with friends. I thought I would give them a call and unexpectecly to be told that there was availiabity.

The menu has a range of dishes to select that you spoilt for choice. The dishes at Bocca Di Lupo is to cover different regions in Italy.

The first dish we tried on the evening was the Seabream carpaccio with orange & rosemary. To get the full flavour of this dish you will need to sqeeze some orange juice, otherwise I thought it lacked flavour.

The grilled mussels with chilli oils was simple dish. It was nice but it would not be a stand out dish for me at Bocca Di Lupo.

It was my first time trying a Bagna fredda (chilled anchovy & garlic cream with fennel, potatoes, bread and mammole artichoke) and thought it was interesting. When it arrived at the table I thought it was a soup but its more of a dipping for the vegetables and bread. The dipping was full of flavour which made it suited to go with the bread and vegetable which was on the bland side.

We also tried one of the risotto on the menu which has taken my fancy over pasta these days. One reason is because it is wheat free which you will not find from traditional pasta. I am told that a good pasta and risotto is when the texture is al dente. However, not being an Italian and clearly not since I prefer my risotto on the softer side.

Bocca Di Lupo’s risotto al dente was a bit too on the hard side with a more crunchy texture compared to risotto I have had in London.

Being an Italian restaurant I expect pasta to be good and Bocca Di Lupo did not disappoint with both pasta dishes we ordered. As with many dishes on the menu, the pasta comes in two sizes – small or large.

Tortellini stuffed with pork & prosciutto, with peas, asparagus and cream

Tagliatelle with ragu bolognese

We also tried a few of Bocca Di Lupo’s roast/grilled dishes on the menu. My favourite of the evening has to be the whole slow grilled leg of milk fed lamb with garlic, wine and honey. This dish cost £55 which is for two person to share. The meat was tender with a
sweet honey taste.

The Roast suckling pig with chestnuts, white wine & bay leaves for £26 would be my second favourite dish of the evening. Crispy skin with succelant meat under it.

We also tried the Agnell cacio e uiva (lamb braised with white wine sauce thickened with egg yolks and pecorino). Looking at the dish you might think it not that pretty but after all it is a stew like dish.

The Caponata (aubergines, celery and tomato in agrodolce) come in the option to be served cold or warm. I prefer it warm. Love that the vegetable cooked until it is soft and it compliment the meat dishes.

We managed to finish our meal with dessert, but unfortunately some of the dessert were already sold out although it was not even 9 o’clock.

The Bonet (chocolate, coffee, amaretti, caramel & rum pudding) was very sweet and is for those with a very sweet tooth. For me one or two spoonfuls is enough to satisfy my sweet buds.

The Baba with baked rhubarb and cream I thought was like bread soaked in water. The portion size of this can be share. Compared to the bonet this was not sweet and more on refresh side. But it was my least favourite dessert of the evening as soggy bread really does not take my fancy.

I did enjoyed the food at Bocca Di Lupo but I was disappointed by the service. Our waitress obviously was trying to get us to finish so they could turn the table.

Me and few of us arrived 20 minutes early than our booking and we were shown to our table. However, even before our booking time we were already push to order and asked when the rest of our guests were arriving.

I was already aware that we only had the table for 2 hours and 15 minutes. So when we were offered the dessert menu and needed to give the table back on time, we tried many time to politely get attention of a staff to take our order. Finally when our waitress wanted to take our dessert, she comes over and decided to take the menus off us, giving us the impression that we had no time for dessert.

I know they are busy and want to turn as many tables throughout the night. But I think our waitress could had done it in a much more polite way. Other restaurant has been able to do it in a much better way. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you don’t want to feel push with your dining.

(Not sponsored. Menu and prices correct at the time of dining)

Bocca Di Lupo
12 Archer Street,
London,
W1D 7BB,
UK

http://boccadilupo.com

Homeslice Pizza (Neal Yard)

If you want a massive big and tasty pizza then consider Homeslice Pizza. They serves pizza 20 inch (£20) in size, but if that’s too big then they also offer pizza by slices (£4 per slice). 

There is a variety of pre-combined toppings to choose including the basic margherita and if you order the 20 inch pizza you can opt to have 50/50. 

We ordered one 20 inch pizza to share and selected one half with Goat Shoulder, savoy cabbage and summac yoghurt (left of photo). Then the other half with Salami, rocket and parmesan (right of photo).

The Goat Shoulder and savoy cabbage was nice in flavour but although it was drizzle with summac yoghurt, I thought it was on the dry side compared to the tomato base pizza. 

Whereas the salami, rocket and parmesan pizza was the complete opposite being tomato base. The tomato sauce was still moist which meant the pizza was less dry to eat. The two toppings made a good combination as 50/50.

The pizza at Homslice are soft in texture which might not take every one fancy, if you are one of those who like their pizza crispy. I am the person who likes their soft base pizza and with lots of toppings. Comparing to other popular pizza restaurants in London, the topping at Homeslice is generous and spread equally around the pizza. 

My favourite way of eating them at Homeslice pizza is roll each slice in to a wrap. How do you like to eat yours?

At the time of writing this, there are three branches in London. I visited the branch in Neal Yard which offers both eat in and takeaway. The place was buzzing with people on a weekday lunch time. Its not a huge place but there are tables that are large enough to come with a few friends to share a whole 20 inch pizza.

Homeslice Pizza (Neal Yard)
13 Neal’s Yard,
Covent Garden,
London,
WC2H 9DP

http://www.homeslicepizza.co.uk

Franco Manca (Tottenham Court Road)

I have always wondered what make Franco Manca popular enough, that people will be willing to queue for a pizza. I finally got that opportunity to find out what it is at their Tottenham Court Road branch.

I have gone pass this branch many time and majority of the time it seem to have a queue. Even the evening I went there was a short queue. For a table of 2 people, we did not have to wait too long, roughly 15 minutes.

The menu is simple with only six different pizza to choose and they all have the option to add extra toppings for additional cost. The most basic and cheapest pizza on their menu is the tomato, garlic and oregano which cost £4.50. The most expensive pizza would be just under £7.

I ordered pizza number five (£6.70) which was made up of tomato, garlic, oregano, capers, olive, anchovies and mozzarella. I found this really salted as it was like eating a lump of salt and my guess was due to the anchovies.

The pizza at Franco Manca is a soft base pizza and similar to the size you will find at Pizza Express. I prefer the soft base pizza over the crispy base, but there will be some of you out there who will like your cripsy pizza base.

The texture of the pizza was nice but I found there was not enough topping on the pizza and felt like some time I was just eating a plain pizza bread which is bland to me.

Although, I did not fall in love with the pizza at Franco Manca, I can see why there is a queue. For the price and the quality for a pizza compare to some of the chains it is good value, especially if you go for the most basic pizza on the menu. So it is no surprise why there is a queue and especially at this branch since it is near to University of London where it would be an attraction to students.

(Not sponsored. Menu and prices are correct at the time of dining)

Franco Manca (Tottenham Court Road)
98 Tottenham Court Road,
London,
W1T 4TR,
UK

http://www.francomanca.co.uk