Tasty vegetarian pad thai

Waiting at the airport can be boring unless you spend your time eating good food. We went to Wagamama and we had a chicken katsu and a vegetarian pad thai. Chicken katsu was very tasty, it was a deep fried chicken with a lot of plain rice on the top of it and a green sauce which was good with the rice but it didn't make much sense with the chicken.  The dish came with cabbage as well which gives a nice light touch. 

The best dish was pad thai though. It was cooked with onion, spring onions, a bit of egg, nuts and a few pieces of tofu. It was delicious.
The environment is nice as well especially if you sit close to the window because you can enjoy the view of the planes.
Rate: 7 out of 10

Link: Wagamama

Rosso pomodoro in Nottinghill

Rossi pomodoro is a chain from north of Italy, I use to eat there in Milan and there is a good one in Covent garden as well. They usually make very good pizza and good pasta. For the first time I went to the one in Nottinghill and I expected the same dishes with the same taste but I was disappointed. We have three different kind of pasta, fusilli with ricotta cheese and vegetables called cime di rapa, paccher with peas and meatball and gnocchi with cherry tomatoes. None of the was particularly good. Fusilli was too dry but was not too bad, paccheri was awful. The sauce was made with pass at a but it tasted like they didn't cook it and it was tasteless. Gnocchi was nothing special neither.
I wouldn't recommend it.
Rate: 5 out of 10.

Trattoria al coniglio

A trattoria is a restaurant where you can usually find homemade dishes, it is usually family run and it's never posh.
It was lunch time and we ended up at "trattoria al coniglio" where I had never been before. When we arrived the restaurant was quite full which usually means food is good. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed and the staff was polite and friendly.
We ordered as first main courses,
tortellini soup, they were very well made, not too big or too small neither, there was not too much pasta or too much filling but the combination and size were very good, the filling was tastefull, the soup was great, it was not too bland or too salty neither, the balance was perfect,
tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms and sausages, I tried it and the taste of porcini mushrooms matched perfectly with sausages,
strozzapreti boscaiola, it is pasta made with flavour and water and was served with cream, peas, mushrooms and sausages,
all pasta was handmade and fresh served with a rich sauce.
After that we had a portion grilled mixed meat to share.

I was delighted with everything, portions were very big and food was amazing. 

We had a bit of wine, some water and at the end of the meal they brought some very good deserts with compliment.
The price was very cheap, we spent only 12 euros each. I will definitely go there again.
Rate: 10 out of 10

Link: Ristorante al Coniglio, Rimini

The restaurant

Tortellini soup

Strozzapreti alla boscaiola

Tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms and sausages

A lovely rustic Italian restaurant

Al ristotantino is the name of a lovely rustic Italian restaurant. It's the kind of restaurant where everyone would like to go if in a trip to Italy. It has been run by the same family for 20 years at least, pasta is all homemade and the vegetables they cook come from just behind the house where the owner cultivate them. They also produce their extravergin olive oil. It was four of us and we had crostini as starter and as main courses we had gnocchi with bolognese sauce and stracchino cheese, ravioli with butter and sage, tortellini with bolognese sauce, mixed pork grilled meat, grilled lamb, oven cooked potatoes and graté vegetables. Everything was delicious, bolognese sauce was great, pasta was amazing. Meat came with a traditional homemade Italian flat bread called piadina. At the end they brought a bottle of grappa for free.
The waiter could have been a little bit politer but overall he was okey.
The price was not too cheap as I would expect from a restaurant in the country side, we spent 22 euros each. We also had wine, water and a desert.
Rate: 10 out of 10

Amazing crostini toscani

Tonight I had amazing crostini toscani at Tinello restaurant. 

Crostini is a traditional starter from Tuscany and it is quite difficult to find it outdside Italy. 

The other starters we ordered are crostini with lardo and honey and gnocco fritto with mortadella which is a traditional dish from Bologna and again you can't find it in London. 

Everything was homemade and absolutely fantastic, perfectly made and big portions as well. 

As main course we had tagliatelle with parma ham, green homemade pappardelle with duck ragu and tortelli with pesto. All dishes were great, homemade and generous portions.

We ordered one desert, an espresso and water. Desert was a tiramisu which was good. We spent 23£ each.

Rate: 9 out of 10.

Link: Tinello

Crostini toscani

Crostini con lardo

Gnocco fritto with mortadella

Pappardelle with spinach and duck ragu'

Ravioli with Pesto

Tagliatelle with parma ham

Wine tasting

It was my first wine tasting event in London and I really enjoyed it. The evening started with the owner giving a speach about the event and the cook talked as well. The athmosphere was very enjoyable, nice people around and everybody was laughing and clapping when the owner was talking.

The theme of the evening was Spain, wine was good and food was great.

After that they started pooring 4 or 5 different kinds of wine from Spain all along with delicious pintxon, small tapas. 

The entire event was a success. We enjoyed it so much and at the end we ordered more food and more wine.

We spent 20 pounds for the wine taste. The food we ordered after was quite expensive, about 20 pound for a platter of cheese to share which I wouldn't pay normally. I'm going to rate the wine tasting event and not the wine shop it self.

Rate: 9 out of 10.

Link: Wine Shop

Italian restaurant English recipe

We went to Osteria del Portico, very Italian name and Italian owner which was very promising. We were pleased to know that dogs are allowed indoor and  outdoor.
They have a nice outdoor space, nicely decorated between other buildings which keep the wind away.
The daily menu was quite cheap and included a starter, a pasta dish and a drink.
As starter everybody ordered vegetable bruschetta and it was very good. Italian bread topped with grilled vegetables and parmesan cheese shaves.
I also ordered seafood spaghetti, it's usually difficult to find fresh seafood served in a restaurant in London but it was the dish of the day and I thought they would have bought it freash.
Well, the portion was huge but seafood was not great, mussels were fresh but the rest of it was not, there were prawns and ring squid.
My friends had penne carbonara and it was full of cream which is not part of the Italian recipe which contains only pancetta, eggs and parmesan cheese.
The menu was 10.50 each.
Rate: 5 out of 10.
Link: Osteria Portico