It’s been long time not see, I’ve started my training as a Histopathology registrar and have been quite busy trying to settle in. It’s going well though and I’m sure I will write more blog posts retrospectively!
Last Saturday, I went to London with mum to visit my brother and his girlfriend. It was lovely catching up with everyone and wanted to, of course, try a new restaurant whilst we were there!
For Lunch, we went to a new restaurant called Notto pasta bar. It’s a restaurant by the chefs behind the infamous Bancone (another Italian pasta house) and it’s only opened last week!
Notto Pasta Bar – https://www.nottopastabar.com/
Things we had between 4 of us:
- Nojito x 4 £6 each
- Mixed Italian olives £3
- Parmesan biscuits £4
- Burrata with slow cooked cavolo nero and an anchovy, garlic and orange dressing £8
- Rigatoni cacio e pepe £8
- Gnocchetti with smashed sausages, white wine, fennel and chilli £10
- Pappardelle with slow cooked oxtail and shin of beef, field mushrooms and red wine x 2 £13 each
- Squid ink spaghetti with a sauce of sardines, garlic, sweet peppers and tomato £12
- Tagliatelle with chicken stock, tarragon, butter and parmesan £8
Taste – Yum, very tasty! I love pasta and all these tasted amazing. Especially the oxtail pappardelle and seafood spaghetti!
Price – I thought price was very reasonable for London’s Italian small plate / pasta place. With places like Bancone and Lina store, the price was similar if not maybe slightly cheaper?
Service – Pretty good, slightly slow with getting the bill but they did later tell us we could have paid through the QR code which was present on the table!
Ambience / Facility – Elongated, well lit, venue. With plentiful seats and tables. Not huge but not equally small either. 2 toilets in the women’s loo, spacious and clean!
Overall – very positive and I would definitely come back here again 🙂
We then went shopping around London and just enjoyed the Christmas lights!
For dinner, we went to a Portugese restaurant – Casa do Frango, Heddon Street
Casa do Frango – https://casadofrango.co.uk/heddon-street/
Things we had between 4 of us:
- Garlic mushrooms x 2 £6 each
- Iberico pork croquettes £8
- Bacalhau fritters £8
- Piri-piri garlic prawns £10
- Piri-piri chicken x 3 £12.5 each
- African rice x 3 £7 each
- Pastel de Nata £4
- Casa almond cake £5
- Pot of tea, lemonades, water, diet coke, pineapple soft drink
We were all feeling pretty tired after a day of shopping, and I definitely felt like I may have been brewing a cold back then now in retrospect – so we skipped alcohol and just had a variety of soft drinks.
Taste – Absolutely delicious, honestly I would come back here in a heartbeat! I loved their garlic mushrooms – it was very buttery and delicious. Piri-piri chicken was so well cooked the skin was super crispy. Most importantly, their african rice side was everyone’s favourite. It had chorizo and crispy chicken skin mixed in with the fried rice and it makes my mouth water even thinking about it now! Yum!
Price – Good price, again similar to our lunch, it is very reasonable for London!
Service – Great, friendly staff! Quick serving! We did go at 5:45pm though so probably slightly earlier than when the rush hour dinner reservations would be – so maybe we benefitted?
Ambience / Facility – Orange, mood light, and they dimmed the light slightly as it went past 7:30pm. Lovely ambience, lots of plant everywhere, enough space and airy to house lots of tables! We were lucky to get a corner table where we felt more cosy. 4 toilets for Womens’ loo – slightly dark but clean.
Overall – Would come back here again in a heartbeat! Shame Kieran and dad couldn’t join us as they would have both loved this place!
I do love London! So many places to dine out at, must visit them all!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
