2013 was a year of big plans, big saving and big eating. Somehow we managed to fit the last part in there, though I can't really work out how. The wife and I continued to dine well all through last year, which, considering the lack of meals so far in 2014, is a blessing for my beleaguered efforts to bring this damn thing up to date. Over Easter, a friend visiting a friend visiting London gave us a great excuse to get another meal in there at the end of March.
Polpo has served us well since it opened on Soho's Beak Street. There have been occasional trips back and we have recommended it to just about everyone because if you want affordable, charismatic, fashionable Italian food; this is it. Covent Garden has been re-branded from the original guise of Da Polpo to simply 'Polpo Covent Garden'. There are now three branches with the opening of a newer site in Smithfield and Polpetto has been re-located to Berwick Street in Soho. In amongst this, Russell Norman has also opened the Ape And Bird pub, just to keep things fresh.
Keeping it fresh is not something the wife and I tend to do when visiting a Polpo restaurant. It tends to be what we know we like with a little variation thrown in once in a while. Having others with us is good because it means we can try some dishes we would not usually give much thought to. In this case, the Sicilian white anchovy salad was one of them (left). Combining bitter, crunchy leaves with the salty fish, this was a pleasant and appropriate way to kick off an evening's eating.
Our next stop was a special of the day we just could not resist: wild mushroom pizzetta (right). There is something about robustly-flavoured, soft mushrooms on a doughy base which I find irresistible and this was worth the £7.50 for sure. Equal parts delicate and simple, food like this needs no fanfare, it just needs eating.
We kept things very standard with our next two choices. We always seem to go for the spaghettini and meatballs at Polpo, the beef & pork a suitably comforting, bullish flavour with the ever so slightly spicy tomato sauce (above left). They were as hearty, warming and delightful as ever. Equally, the fritto misto was a crunchy, crispy plate of properly-battered and fried seafood (above right). It was light, full-flavoured, salty and fresh. The three of us devoured it with little regard for etiquette.
The dessert we were all drawn to was the panna cotta, served with rhubarb and pistachio (left). Whilst I could see the appeal of some nut crumble to provide textural variation, the wife and I weren't interested and had one each with no nuts. Panna cotta is something I wouldn't usually choose when dessert comes around but rhubarb is. In this case, I was delighted with the choice. The cream was not overly set or gelatinous which is half the battle with pannna cotta. The rhubarb was poached to a gentle bite and the whole thing worked wonderfully well. It was a great end to a pleasant meal. So much so that the wife and I instantly ordered another each. When the bill came, we realised £32.50 had been spent on panna cotta. They were that good.A meal at pretty much any Polpo branch is guaranteed to be fun, interesting and generally enjoyable. The food is not overpriced, it stays simple and is a reminder that good Italian food is all about a sensible balance between rustic and refined.
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