I am usually pretty circumspect with regards to any restaurant that also has a home delivery option. To me, they should be two separate businesses and rarely do they mix in any successful degree.
Pleasingly this rustic Italian, on Balham High Road certainly does deliver the restaurant element with a touch of Italian aplomb. I took my better half out to dinner during the festive period and was initially a bit wary as we arrived to a near empty restaurant.
There is an authentic quality about the place, with good smells upon entry and the staff greeting us with a warm and friendly charm. We chose to sit next to the window and quickly the restaurant filled up with the atmosphere hitting a nice level.
We initially ordered the Parmigianina and the Bresaola and as we’d hoped from an Italian that prides itself on fresh ingredients we were met with some tasty starters. The Parmigianina was packed with aubergine, well baked and balanced in flavour. The Bresaola was pretty substantial in quantity with plenty of cured beef and bags of Parmesan with the truffle oil really giving it a terrific finish.
By the time the starters had been tucked away along with a pleasant bottle of the house Pinot Grigio, we were ready for the mains. The Prosiutto e’ funghi and the Firoentina were duly ordered and arrived in good time.
The base was clearly made to order with the usual uneven quality a give-away. Topped off with fresh, tasty ingredients once more, the sheer quantity of the pizza’s left little room for the dessert course,which we had to skip.
Overall this is a good family run Italian; not blow your socks off good, but certainly as a local Italian we’re reassured that if we return it’ll be a filling, tasty visit. It’s not too pricey at all so if you’re looking for only a slight impact to your wallet, with a safe bet at a decent meal in Balham this is the place.
£30 pp – two courses with wine.
Tel: 020 86753072
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