My Experience at Amalfi..........13-06-2011

We decided very last minute to plan a trip to the UK. The trip was mainly to go see an electronic DJ playing live at Victoria Park at a music festival! J

We figured while we were going to England we might as well stay and see a bit more of this historic country. As we were staying with a friend just outside of London in Reigate, we travelled into London quite often. We dedicated one day to being total tourists and took the Big Bus Tour of London. When you do not have a lot of time on your side and you want to see as much of the landmarks as possible this is the best way to do it. So after seeing some of the main attractions like the Big Ben, London Eye, Tower and London Bridge, we found ourselves looking for a place to have a nice dinner at. This time I didn’t quite feel like spending the remainder of the sunshine (that’s right I just used the word sunshine whilst talking about England) in a dark dingy pub. Why is it thought that all the pubs in England are so dark and all of them have carpets which results in all of them smelling like beer as you enter?!!

Anyway, while we were sightseeing during the day we drove thru the area known as Soho and thought this place looked quite hip and happening. So there we found ourselves back in Soho looking for a bite to eat. We popped our heads into a few places and eventually decided on this quaint little Italian restaurant called Amalfi! Only once I had returned home did I discover that Amalfi is actually a coastal town in the province of Salerno in the region of Campania, Italy.

One thing that still amazes me every time we go to Europe is how different the dining out experience is over there compared to over here! I don’t need to tell you this as you know over here in sunny South Africa going out for dinner can be a whole night event. You first have a couple glasses of wine before you order you food and you take your time in between courses. And if you wanted to you could savor the last bit of the night long after you have finished your dessert. Over there this would not be the case! As they seat you they almost expect you to immediately know what it is that you want to drink. Then as they bring your drinks order they expect you to place your mains order. The first time we went out for dinner over there I was totally caught off guard! Thank goodness that time we went to this particular place to eat their ribs so I didn’t really have to think about what to order. I am not really someone that likes to be put on the spot so deciding what I would like to eat does not happen in a milli second as I am also quite picky about what I put in my mouth. I hate having food envy so I want to make sure I order the perfect meal for me. Therefore I will ALWAYS ask questions! But don’t worry, I am not one of those totally annoyingly difficult customers, I just like knowing the details.

We skipped the starters and went straight onto mains. Can you believe I have never had risotto!! So I figured there isn’t a more perfect time then to have it at this proper Italian restaurant. I ordered the Risotto Frutti di Mare: Classic southern Italian risotto of squid, mussels, prawns and clams, finished with chilli, tomato garlic and olive oil. It was delicious!!! It had the perfect balance between creamy risotto and the meaty goods with an amazingly complimenting sauce! Devine!! My boyfriend had the Spaghetti Polpette: Beef and pork meatballs with garlic and herbs, in a rich tomato sauce. I only briefly tasted it as I didn’t want to ruin the creamy seafood risotto taste with the taste of saucy meatballs. Although it was nice I think it was a bit too plain for the restaurant we were in! If you are going to serve such an ordinary dish it should be exploding with flavour! I wanted to feel like I was in Italy while I was there. Which was well possible, seeing as there was a lot of different types of accents being spoken and our waiter was imported straight from Italy! Shame he was so cute.  A short stocky grumpy (in the Italian way) old man!

If there is baked cheesecake on a dessert menu I struggle to resist and the same goes for my boyfriend and tiramisu! So needless to say I had the Cheesecake: Creamy baked cheesecake with red berry compote and he had the Tiramisu: Italian dessert with light sponge soaked in coffee liquor, layered with mascarpone cream. My cheesecake was good, definitely satisfied that creamy craving but I could get better in South Africa as baked cheesecake is one of our local specialties, but the Tiramisu!! I think you will definitely struggle to get one that beats that tiramisu! It was AMAZING….

Overall a very lovely Italian experience in the heart of the gay centre of London! Definitely a place I would go back to if we had to pop by Soho again.

Yours in fun & food,

Elly D

29-31 Old Compton Street
Soho, London
020 7437 7284
http://www.amalfi-restaurant.co.uk/