speakeasy @ spuntino

Last week I jumped on the bandwagon and dined at Spuntino in Soho - the new 'small plates' restaurant from Russell Norman and Richard Beatty, the men behind the much lauded Italian cicheti restaurants Polpo and Polpetto. Rather than Venetian cuisine, Spuntino instead focuses on diner style minis with a twist. Not one for the calorie conscious but brilliant fun, reasonably priced and well worth a visit...

Conceived in NY Speakeasy style - just check out their minimal website here -  Spuntino glints behind a plain black unmarked front, nestling between the seedy sex shops and neon lights of Soho. Inside is done up in diner-esque style, with filament bulb lamps, plain tumbler glasses, a popcorn machine, 20s music and tattooed, slightly grimy but lovely staff. Candles, close seating and low lighting give it a great cosy feel. Like it's Italian sisters, you can't book (can't even call mate) and there are likely to be queues at normal dining hours. With this in mind, I arrived there at 5.30pm and walked straight in... Luckily I work just round the corner so this wasn't an issue, but I would suggest getting there well off-peak in order to avoid waiting. If Spuntino is anything like Polpo the queues aren't going to die down for some considerable time... especially as there are only around 30 seats in the place, all located around a 3 sided bar.

truffled egg toast

P & J goodness

Food wise Spuntino well deserves the positive reviews it's been garnering from all corners. We enjoyed the truffled egg toast, a rich and cheesy delight, a small but perfectly formed slider (mini burger) with salt beef and pickles, as well as a zucchini pizzetta and cheese grits. I'd never had grits before and was surprised at how smooth they were - a hearty taste of the Deep South indeed! The squid with chickpeas and inky sauce was slightly lacking in flavour, but a good addition to the menu. They had also to our dismay, run out of the lightly battered egg and soldiers (after seeing pictures online, our main reason for visiting the establishment in the first place!) so we may have to organise a repeat visit for this reason only... The food is pretty heavy and filling, so dessert of a naughty peanut butter and jelly sandwich creation with flaked nuts on top, and a boozy chocolate brownie, absolutely did us over. All small plates range from around £4 to £7 so if sharing, are easily affordable. Wine is a tad overpriced here, and we opted for the more affordable pale ale/vodka + tonic options.

Seeing off a few of these babies, the bright XXX light called us, and staggering out onto the streets of Soho an evening of hilarity ensued, including a thorough investigation of the local sex shops, playing hunt the merkin (no shops seem to stock them - what's with that?!) and the discovery of Cox Cookies & Cake - a real gem of a place if you like your filthy cakes!