|
|
SPIGA - Pizza Restaurant
SPIGA is an upmarket pizza restaurant located in the trendy London Soho area.
SPIGA is an upmarket pizza
restaurant located in the trendy London Soho area. Specializing in wood-oven
pizza, this bright and cheerful restaurant has been a landmark in Soho for a while now. Restrained and demure among its loudly garish neighbours,
SPIGA is known for its inventive modern Italian menu which focuses on its
delicious thin pizzas. SPIGA is essentially a fine Italian Trattoria disguised
as a quaint pizza parlour. The bright interior belies the gourmet heart within.
Tan and beige with a generous use of wood throughout add to the cosy and lively
atmosphere.
The menu has a range of
starters including a delicious salad of baby spinach, ricotta and roasted
peppers in a honey and balsamic vinegar dressing. Inventive little touches like
fried pumpkin croquettes and marinated char grilled radicchio. Standards like
buffalo mozzarella with grilled courgettes and sun blushed peppers and classic
Italian antipasto also occupy the list.
The pizzas are large and
unusually thin with conspicuously fresh ingredients. Ham and artichokes and
mushrooms adorn the thin half-yard crusts, topped with a healthy serving of
cheese. The pancetta e caprino comes laden with mozzarella and goat cheese with
cured bacon and tomatoes. The Diavola all Siciliana features aubergines and the
Valtellina is topped with air-cured beef. The prices are moderate for these
gourmet pizzas but easily worth the extra coin.
SPIGA offers more than just
pizza, however, and its pasta dishes are appetizing. Available in a range of sizes,
the menu offers an easy to navigate mix and match set-up to make ordering the
perfect meal easy. Te tagliatelle with scallops, courgette, saffron and garlic
sauce is a highlight.
The menu is filled out with
its deserts and wines. The puddings are rich and tasty, including a homemade
lemon marscapone tart, which tempts even the fullest tummy. The wine list is
small but creative and completely Italian. Most are moderately priced and
begging to be sampled.
The menu changes every six
weeks so while the dishes described here may not be available, they will most
certainly be delicious and fresh. SPIGA is likely to have something that will
interest most people.
The service at SPIGA can
sometimes be a little bit taxed due to the crowd the tasty fair draws in, but
this is easily forgiven once the tongue touches the food. The facilities are
always clean and orderly in spite of the hectic environment. SPIGA is located
at 84-86, Ardour
St London W1F 0TG. Its hours of operation are: Midday-3pm daily; 6-11pm Mon, Tue & Sun; 6pm-midnight Wed-Sat.
|
|
