Such is the never-ending carousel of newly hyped restaurant openings in London that it's very rare that we revisit anywhere.
But, on our last trip to the Big Smoke, it was Mrs G’s turn to pick where we were going for lunch and Manteca was the decision.
To be fair, Manteca has relocated from Soho to Shoreditch since we last had a brilliant meal there back in 2020. So, it almost counts as a new restaurant.
Co-owned by chef Chris Leach and restaurateur David Carter (who’s also behind the immense Oma and SmokeStak), this nose-to-tail Italian restaurant serves a menu of in-house salumi, hand-rolled pasta and sharing plates of fish and meat.
With an upstairs dining space centred around a bustling open kitchen and a downstairs room that’s dominated by a contemporary art installation-like charcuterie hanging chamber, they’ve really managed to squeeze in the covers. So, I can see how they’ve been able to secure a Michelin Bib Gourmand for “exceptional food at great value”. But, it’s still fascinating to compare the inflation in prices since our last visit in 2020, when our crab cacio pepe cost us £8.50. This time around it was almost twice the price at £16.
I stuck to Manteca’s wines on tap, working on the theory that I’d get more bang for your buck. I kicked off with a complex and slightly funky Garganega and Trebbiano blend (£6.50), followed by an excellent juicy Stellenbosch, made in collaboration with Manteca and Craven Wines. Mrs G smashed back a couple of glasses of light and citrusty Verdicchio di Matelica (£8.50).
Focaccia (£5) was a statement of intent. Super crusty with a light and bubbly crumb, it was the lovechild of a focaccia and a sourdough. Pooled on the plate was a just so amount of grassy olive oil.
Porchetta tonnato (£9) was so far up my street it was through the front door and curled up in my bed. Thin slices of fatty fennel-spiced pork were drenched in a creamy tuna mayonnaise and dotted with pops of zingy caper.
A stuffed olive (£4.50) was no such thing, but it was arguably better off for its false advertising. A mix of rich sausage meat and diced vibrant olives were coated in the crispest of crumbs. A squeeze of lemon was a necessity to balance all that fried richness.
I think we might have been slightly forgotten at this point as it took a good while for our final starter to show up and other tables who arrived well after us began to see their dishes pile up. Thankfully, when a plate of asparagus (£12) finally pitched up, it was worth the wait.
Served cold, the tender and charred shoots were sat on a bed of rich and poky aioli and topped with an intensely savoury and spiced salami XO sauce. If all veg dishes tasted this good, then there wouldn’t been any need to encourage people to eat their greens.
Served cold, the tender and charred shoots were sat on a bed of rich and poky aioli and topped with an intensely savoury and spiced salami XO sauce. If all veg dishes tasted this good, then there wouldn’t been any need to encourage people to eat their greens.
Pasta dishes were just as memorable as our last visit.
Dinky almost gnocchi-like textured shells of malloreddus pasta (£15) were served with a thick, meaty and herby leghorn chicken ragu that was richer and more intense than any other poultry dish I’ve encountered.
Slippery tonnarelli (£16) with a lovely bite were coated in a decadently peppery and savoury cacio e pepe sauce whose intensity was dialled up to 11 by the addition of earthy brown crab.
I’d envisaged that the pasta dishes were going to be the highlight of our meal but little did I know how remarkable our meat course was going to be.
Two steaks of beautifully pink and well-crusted hogget steak were gorgeously tender and huge in flavour. If that wasn’t enough meat for £35, then an accompanying juicy and dense fennel twanged sausage was the icing on the cake.
Two steaks of beautifully pink and well-crusted hogget steak were gorgeously tender and huge in flavour. If that wasn’t enough meat for £35, then an accompanying juicy and dense fennel twanged sausage was the icing on the cake.
The dish was brought together by leaves of wilted wild garlic and a first-rate glossy lamb sauce, which was the kind of thing you normally only get a few drops of in a fine dining gaff. Here it would have been rude to let this nectar go to waste. So, when I asked for a spoon, the waiter was on the same wavelength as me and very kindly brought some small chunks of bread to assist in my endeavours.
On the side, a zingily dressed cabbage slaw (£7.50) was enlivened with nutty grains of farrow and shavings of savoury pecorino. It was just what was needed to balance the rich meat.
Stuffed, I couldn’t even muster the appetite for a single piece of beef fat fudge for dessert.
We had a remarkably good lunch at Manteca and I commend Mrs G for insisting on a return visit instead of opting for one of London’s latest hype joints.
As an addendum, whilst were busy enjoying lunch we remarked how similar Manteca’s food and vibe is to Cardiff’s Ember. So, if you can’t make it down to the Big Smoke then Dave Killick's excellent restaurant in Pontcanna is most definitely worth visiting for their homemade salumi, pasta and sharing plates of meat and fish.
The Details:
Address - Manteca, 49-51 Curtain Road, London, EC2A 3PT
Telephone - 020 7139 5172
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