Zucca

[david goodfellow]

I think I,m in love. Or is it infatuation? I,m not sure.

Its most certainly cupboard love and definitly love at first bite.

Virtually every review of Sam Harris,s new Bermonsey restaurant positively glows and I will add to that.

A brisk walk from Tower Bridge and of course the Tower of London down Bermondsey street, lies Zucca housed in a modern glass fronted building. Quite an interesting neighbourhood and I bet its residents are well pleased with this addition.

Inside is smart, chic and minimal, with clinical white table and chairs, bare concrete walls and a long open kitchen at the rear manned by a trio of chefs including Mr H to your left.

I was quite exited at the prospect of eating here especially having learned Mr H had worked at River Cafe, Bibendum, and spent four years as an Egon Ronay inspector, so during those four years alone he certainly was able to sort good from bad.

Now we have never been to the River Cafe due to an aversion to their pricing, which to describe as grasping is not being unkind.

I am justified in bringing this up as Zucca is at least a third of the price with antipasti starting at £3 and ending at £4.25. This is truly astonishing pricing for food of this quality anywhere in the country never mind London.

Mains are no more than £13.95 and half are a quid less than that.

Bread is home made and terrific quality, soudough, ciabatta, and a fantastic olive oil soaked, salty focaccia.

Some maldon sea salt and Planeta Olive oil are complimentary, as is a jug of tap water.

"The use of mobile phones is both unsociable and unnecessary" reads the menu, and I wholeheartedly agree. Ban the buggers, send them outside with the smokers.

Before we start and before the pedantics have a pop, some of the photos are a bit blurred, this is because I am diabetic and my blood sugar dropped very low causing a bout of shakes at the start of the meal. And I am not looking for a sympathy vote just giving an explanation.

Sardines, sweet and sour (£4.15) was a generous portion of very fresh fish served with pine nuts, raisins, chilli, and onions and jolly nice they were too.

Vitello tonnato (£4.25) is a classic Italian dish that we have not tried before perhaps because we don,t eat much Italian food. However after our recent excursions that will change I assure you. The dish was cooked Veal served cold with a tuna, anchovy, caper, and mayo sauce and was surprisingly good.

Fregola with clams and tomato (£6.50) was next up. As you can see from the photo the tomato skins should perhaps have been removed at the pass as they are inedible, having said that the clams were tasty, the broth full of flavour. The Fregola (Sardinian pasta) was a welcome first also for us, nothing to fault, except those pesky tomato skins.

Beetroot, rochetta cheese, and tarragon (£4.15) another steal from the generously proportioned antipasti menu was a delightful summery plateful of seasonal joy helped along with some more of that wonderful bread.

San Daniele ham with figs (£4.15) was another steal, top notch produce, seductivly ripe fig melding perfectly with the full flavoured nicely salted and black peppered ham.

Mozzarella "Norma" (£4.25) is another dish that we are not familiar with again simply excellent prime ingredients, the mozzarella topped with a tasty aubergine and tomato sauce.

Now by this time and especially due to the portion sizes we know we have ordered way too much food and are beginning to feel a bit full. No probs we press on regardless.

We have now reached the stage where we are feeling guilty about eating all this food, and its beginning to feel like a form of theft because of the low, low prices.

Carpaccio of Sea Bream (£4.15) was our last antipasti, and don't ask me how they can serve portion sizes and quality this good for four quid, a skinny model would last all day on this portion.

Spankinly fresh with flecks of chilli and red pepper lemon juice and olive oil, this was a real joy to eat.

The marathon nearly over we can,t resist a main course of Roast Suckling Pig, chard and castelluccio lentils (£12. 95).

Very good but not as stunning as I thought it would be, the crackling was a bit rubbery in parts which was a shame as the dish itself was very good in the main.

We finished the meal with an astonishingly good vanilla flecked Panacotta which was accompanied by some poached peach. Light, sweet, and pleasurable it slipped down a treat to finally fill the very tiny pocket of space in our gluttonous bellys.

As you can gather we rather enjoyed Zucca somewhat enormously.

It truly is fantastic value fom money and well worth travelling too from afar.

I did not keep the bill but from memory all of the above, and easily enough to feed four, came to £71 and that included a handsome bottle of wine at about £22, stunning value and very well worthy of much continued success.

It may come as some comfort to you that Sam Harris confirmed to me that no matter how successful they are prices will not go up.

Fantastic, all the success in the world to you, Sir.

I forgot to mention no service charge is levied and I am assured the staff are paid a decent wage, not relying on tips to make their wage up. Nevertheless we tipped on top of the £71 to make it up to £80 partly because we felt guilty and part because the service was charming and informed.

Edited August 29, 2010 by david goodfellow (log)

[Harters]

Looks good, David.

I had the misfortune to eat vitello tonnato many years ago, without realising what I was about to put in my mouth. Never again - I regard it as one of the few truly vile things I've ever eaten.

[david goodfellow]

You know me John, I'll try most things once.

Thankfully I did not share your revulsion, but having said that it is a bit of an aquired taste and I don't think we will dash back to order it.

[Soundman]

The fregola you mention has been a favourite of ours since eating it in Sardinia a few years ago, a local deli stocks it, and we use it in place of rice in a paella mostly. If you ever see giant cous cous in the shops, it's more or less the same thing.

[Pam Brunning]

The place sounds interesting David. We did The River Cafe once - never again! Zucca prices sound good, unfortunatly it is the wrong side of London for us, a nightmare underground trek.

I am surprised at your comments on vitello tonnato John, I have been making the dish for years with pork, our kids were brought up on it! When you have a few thousand pig about the place you are always looking for different ways to serve cold roast pork. It is always popular as a buffet dish. Tuna liquidised with homemade mayo then lots of finely chopped capers and anchovies and the pork juices folded in - yum

[david goodfellow]

When you have a few thousand pig about the place

Pam, I am intrigued, you really have my attention with that statement

And yes, Zucca and Polpo (which I have to write up) are the way forward.

[Pam Brunning]

David - When we were first married we were pig farming and raising 3 daughters, we would have up to 2,000 pigs of all ages on the farm. Pigs are like some humans nasty and savage to each other they would frequently beat up either the strongest or weakest in a pen. if we were not around you could often find a pig at deaths door with its heart still pumping. The only thing to do was 'to save its life by cutting its throat'! It would have been dead and condemned if taken to the abattoir. We became expert at skinning and butchering a carcase, consequently the surfeit of pork.

[david goodfellow]

Thanks for the info Pam, was not meaning to be nosey, but I have learned something new today.

I also now understand your insight into the Pork cheek topic on Cooking and Baking.

[Gary Marshall]

very good early 'tea' there last night. myriad of antipasti's a special bruschetta of gorgonzola piccante, the sea bream, mozzarella and courgette world class deep fried zucci fitte , vitello tonato and possibly sme more!

pasta for me of rigatoni with lemon ricotta and hazlenut pesto.

Main Veal chop, superb with superfluous (for me) spinach, blackberry and lemon tart to finish. Killer double espresso. We did a bit of byo at £6 a bottle and some off the list, ex wine £55 a head incl (very good) service. will return, trullo to try next.

busy from 6.30 onwards,so doing it right, pricing it well and reaping the rewards with a full , buzzy restaurant on a tuesday night during the tube strike when most just worrying about getting home.

Edited September 8, 2010 by Gary Marshall (log)

[david goodfellow]

Welcome back Gary, another "old timer", ( along with Bapi ) resurfaces.

Sounds like you really enjoyed yourselves, but to be honest anyone who faults this place should stay at home.

Looking forward to your Trullo review.

[Man]

Hi David,

let me say first that you are a true hero in the Man-Woman family since a review of yours here led us to discover that gem, Texture. And whenever I've tried, I've found that my taste agrees with yours. But...

...in this case I find it really, really difficult to believe Zucca's quality can be that high. Quality materials cost, there's no way out of it (e.g. good, say 24 month, San Daniele will be 30 a kilo), so it seems to me that either this pricing is unsustainable, or...

Anyway, until I try it I'll take your (and others') word for it!

Let me make a few points, however . The presentation of the dishes is despicable and wouldn't cost much to improve. A vittello tonnato without some simple garnish (whole capers, or some fresh herb, whatever) looks really like vomit - I would not present it in that way to my guests let alone in a restaurant (I am convinced Harter's reaction to the dish must be predisposed by an unconscious association of this kind, as it is a delicious dish). The sauce looks also too runny (= cheaply made). The fregola seems too have very little fregola in it - in case you are intereseted you can see here or here or here for example how it is served in three restaurants in Sardinia (and almost surely Zucca's wasn't home made). The San Daniele looks dry and nasty and badly cut. I don't know what to make of it - comparing this report with your other one from Bocca di Lupo, the latter's dishes look from the photos far more enticing and better prepared to me, as well as the portions being more believable if true quality is to be achieved at those prices.

But then again, you are a hero and I hope to be proved wrong.

Edited September 11, 2010 by Man (log)

[david goodfellow]

Hi Man,

I am flattered to bits to have you as a fan.

As you no doubt know, I have my share of detractors on here but plod on regardless with my down to earth reviews which hopefully reaches a wider audience than some of the highbrow stuff on the net.

I make the point in the review that I am a novice when it comes to Italian food, and bow to your vastly superior knowledge, it does of course help your cause that you are Italian and an avid foodie to boot.

You will notice a theme in my reviews, and that is value for money, Zucca certainly ticks all the boxes in that department and more, and perhaps you are right the quality may not be top of the tree but I feel most folks will not be concerned.

I do indeed take your point about top quality ingredients (and you should know about Italian ones)and do not try to kid anyone that I know it all about whats on offer from a country that I am unfamiliar with.

Virtually every meal that we eat out I learn a little more and feel blessed that we are able to enjoy and share our experiences with those who are interested on this forum.

Zucca for me, is perhaps the most approachable Italian restaurant for Joe Public to enjoy good produce, good service, great atmosphere and bargain basement prices, but we must remember of course its no where near or trying to be Michelin standard.

As I value your opinion I am dreading you not enjoying the place,

Please be kind

[david goodfellow]

Looks like the new food critic at The Guardian, John Lanchester, likes the place too.

[david goodfellow]

Anyone else been here recently?

What about you Pam?

[Pam Brunning]

Sorry David We were booked for 2nd November but had to cancel, spent the morning stuck on the M4 - compleatly closed because of a lorry accident!!

Off to Pennyhill Park on Thursday for lunch offer - will keep you posted.

Pam

[MaLO]

Lunched well here yesterday. We shared the fritti, crab and fennel bruschetta, grilled prawns and a burratta then took a pasta with razor clams and the veal chop. We ended with vin Santo and cantuccini and espressos.

[david goodfellow]

Lunched well here yesterday. We shared the fritti, crab and fennel bruschetta, grilled prawns and a burratta then took a pasta with razor clams and the veal chop. We ended with vin Santo and cantuccini and espressos.

Are the prices still as low as they were on our visit?

Did you not take any photos Martin?

[MaLO]

I didn't take any photos. We sat up at the counter to the left of the coffee machine if you scroll up to the images. It was a good place to sit – the other available table was a two between two other twos so I was happy to sit up and watch the action. It was a busy and happy place to be.

Prices were reasonable. Antipasti £4-7. Pasta £8 or £12 depending on the portion. Meat and fish £15 - £16. The veal chop was a thumper.

Portions were good and the food was very enjoyable.