Icco - Fitzrovia

It's always happy pizza time at Icco (Italian Coffee Company).

 

Neptune (top left) - Anchovies, black olives, cheese,  tomato sauce, basil & herbs (£ 4.50)

Pepperoni (top right) - Pepperoni, cheese, tomato sauce,  basil & herbs (£ 4.50)
Capricciosa (bottom) - Ham, mushroom, black olives,  cheese, tomato sauce & basil (£ 5.30) with extra artichokes (£0.50)

And a little extra dosh for the little dippers - garlic and BBQ. Garlic wins everytime.

Osteria Dell'Arte - Clapham High Street

After having our hopes dashed for a table at Mongolian Grill in Clapham (Saturday night + no booking = utter stupidity), SM and I wandered down Clapham High Street when we passed Osteria Dell'Arte. It hadn't been there the last time we passed (a little light Google-ing has informed me that it used to be San Marco) and it looked as good as any of the other overflowing restaurants. Seated initially by the entrance we were lured to the back with promises of a spacious larger table by the waitress. We passed the kitchen, we passed the loos ... before we were arrived in what I later grumbled to SM was the store room. It wasn't really but after the bustle of the front room, the back dining area felt a little too remote for my liking. In SM's own little way I was told to just chill out since it would look really stupid if we tried to get our old table back. Fine, whatever. The waiting staff were friendly and sure enough our little area soon filled up making it less store room-ish.

SM started with the deep fried sardines with shaved fennel which was fresh and light. Not only was it after every morsel was gone and the plate wiped clean did SM reveal it was too small, too clean, too light a starter. Well, bully for SM because if that revelation had come a little earlier I would have happily swapped.

I had a very nice bruschetta topped with porcini sautéed in olive oil and butter and topped with a little cheese (no idea what kind) and mixed foliage. Warm, earthy flavours. Perfect for an autumn's evening.

As usual it was a pepperoni pizza for SM. It was a perfectly good pizza - thin crust with just the right amount of toppings but the crust was over the top salty. Definitely something that the chef should work on.

After my usual indecisiveness, I ordered the pappardalle with spicy sausage only to have an apologetic waitress come back just before the arrival of the starters that it was sold out. No matter, I pointed to my backup on the menu she was holding out. But what was set out in front of me later on didn't look anything like the seafood linguini I thought I had ordered. The mass of black pasta topped with crab and cherry  tomatoes looked appetising enough ... if you liked and could eat squid ink pasta. I was horribly allergic to squid ink (random I know) as a child - swelling of the face, itching ... yup, you name it ... and have steered clear of it ever since. It's not something you come across regularly. The waitress was good natured about it - she misheard me and thought I had pointed to the dish below the linguini I was ordering. She whisked it away and replaced it with what I wanted 10 minutes later. It was absolutely delicious. Fresh seafood, punchy tomato sauce, al dante pasta ... I only wished I ordered 2 portions.

The prices were reasonable - the meal with 2 drinks came to about £35 or thereabouts for 2. The service was friendly and the food good. This all adds up to a definite return.

Osteria Dell'Arte
126 Clapham High Street, SW4 7UH London

Lazy Sundays with a Touch of Italian - Rocca Di Pappa

Pescatore - fresh pasta with Fresh clams, cockles, wild mussels and a touch of chilli £8.95

London at it's best? The first basking of wonderously warm sunshine over the city with just just the slightest twinge of breeze to make life all that more bearable. And then it all goes downhill from there (there's that happy cynic in me resurfacing again!). But I stand by what I say. After that 1st day of lovely weather and happy Londoners .... the heat in the underground starts getting unbearable, you start to notice that the person whose armpit your faced is jammed into at rush hour has never heard of deodorant, then the train comes to a standstill in the middle of a long dark tunnel because some wise crack decided to steal the copper wire on which train tracks in Britain are so reliant on ....

Americana - pizza with Tomato, pepperoni and mozzarella £7.35

Alright, so there's me thinking that 11 years in this country has earned me a little bit of a right to have a right moan every now and then. But there truly are some lovely bits to this city. Like that first basking of warm sunshine with a light summer's breeze that allows for a lazy weekend's al fresco dinner.

Insalata - house leaf salad £3.25

I like Dulwich Village but it can sometimes be totally yummy mummy and happy daddy overwhelming for me. That and the very grown up £1million plus houses and the Land Rovers littered. It's still a nice place - it's what I aspire to when (if?) I grow up. Rocca on the main street adds a nice touch to Dulwich Village (it has an older sibling of the same name in Kensington, with a slightly larger menu and bigger price tags too). Think lots of warm, light woods with dashes of cream/off white and tarnished bronzes (another look I would love when I grow up and set up my million £ home complete with a lazy ginger tabby and slightly bonkers chocolate brown Lab).The staff are friendly, the food is very acceptable (stay off the bread though ... it was a tad doughy and heavy for my liking) and the prices are very reasonable. And best of all, for those balmy summer days there's outdoor seating out front or in the rear garden, as well as lovely big windows that open up in front of the restaurant.

Rocca Di Pappa
75-79 Dulwich Village, London SE21 7BJ

Late Night Munchies - ICCo, Fitzrovia

It was a late night munchies at ICCo (Italian Coffee Company) on the corner of Goodge Street and Charlotte Street.

Pepperoni and the Special (black olives, artichokes and an egg). You can never go wrong with pepperoni ... always sublimely good. I love articokes, I like black olives but I will never get the whole egg thing on pizzas.

A Pepperoni and a Special. Thin, chewy crust = tick, pipping hot = tick, level of deliciousness = pretty darn high. And at around £4.50 for an 11" ..... I would say these pizzas were pretty darn amazing!

ICCo
46 Goodge Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4LU

Saturday Night Pizzas

I've been lacking inspiration in the kitchen recently and today was no better. Soaked from top to toe when I ventured out earlier - it's been drip, drip, bloody drip the whole day - with a leaking umbrella (it cost me all of 50p from Shanghai!), I had a guy stop me on the street to laughingly tell me how I should invest in a "proper" umbrella. Grrr... seriously, I know!

As much as I dislike the idea of sandwiches for dinner, it was a serious contender tonight until I remembered how easy it is to make homemade pizzas using tortillas as the base. A few spoonfuls of tomato sauce from a jar, slices of salami, sliced tomato, cheese and viola ... dinner! I picked up some smoked cheddar, which very disappointingly lacked any smoky flavour.

For a little variety, I made two different pizzas. One had BBQ sauce spread over the base, topped with salami, sweetcorn and the smoked cheddar.

The second pizza had the usual tomato sauce base, which was topped with salami, sliced baby tomatoes and more of the smoked cheddar.

Placed under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes, it couldn't have been any easier. Served with a salad (undressed - I was feeling that lazy!), tortilla chips and dips. I was happy - it took me all of 10 minutes to put dinner together and Stuart was happy -his one night off from noodle soup, salad and brown rice :) Both of us preferred the BBQ pizza, just a little more interesting than the usual tomato base. Perhaps the sauce made up for the cheese? The salami was a little fattier than usual ... it left mini lakes on both our plates. Ohh ... we only have this once in awhile... :)