I would like to begin by publicly apologising to Russell Norman and his team, because on reflection, I think I was man-pmsing when I wrote the Polpetto review. I was out of line, and rude, and I hope I can be forgiven. Handslap. Most of you are already familiar with the famous bacaro in Soho that is Polpo, and many of you would have heard of the owners, Norman and Beatty’s exciting plans of growing the brand they have created. And while Polpetto was more of the same, except smaller (great ossobuco), the third outfit, Spuntino, is a step in a totally different direction. The Italian influence, is now heavily laced with references to the American diner, the menu is still presented as a personal paper table cloth; except this time round, you can almost hear Robert Frank’s shutter going off in the background to a recital of the bebop beat poetry of Jack Kerouac. Spuntino inherits the winning ambiance from its predecessors and then some. There’s just something very special about this squarish room, in the heart of striptease central. I didn’t like the crammed Polpo and hated the rammed Polpetto, but Spuntino is very close to perfect. Spuntino is tiny, about twenty can sit around the bar, there’s a table for six right at the back, and at the very end of the bar, there is a oversized
The tweatup team comprises of six bottomless appetites and it took fate (and twitter) to bring together this hungry pack, whose ultimate goal is to eat our way to economic growth. The pack is led by the enigmatic Tehbus and his second in command Mr FbM, a shadowy secret agent who splits his gastro assignments between America and London. The team’s uber-assasins are three women, namely supercharz, foodieguide and Cattylicious. And I’d like to think of myself as…the waterboy. The latest conquest is Bodeans, and this is the paper movie*. (*The events depicted are based on a true story.)
Soho could not be a merrier place. The colours of the rainbow adorn shop fronts and in this most celebrated of city underbellies – home to a myriad of eclectic restaurants – it is the default option to hang out with the cool kids, albeit being a little cliché. Randall & Aubin is such a place for them cool kids; There is an air of relaxed openness from the outset as if, like the rest of Soho, the party never stops. The thumping music so loud it is matched by the eye catching seafood counter. We might still be knee deep in a recession, but man do I need to indulge in abit of weekend gluttony
Trend is a funny thing. It is exhilarating riding the hype waves and it had driven me to try Yalla Yalla, especially after reading about it on World Foodie Guide and on Metro. It was a toss up between Tayyabs and this, for a five person feasting on a Saturday night and I chose to go with the new kid on the block
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Damn it, he’s done it again. (He being the elusive blurryman with the fire red scarf, and...
