[Review] Tortellini Cup / My Tortellini

Discovered Tortellini Cup on groupon but the terms were quite confusing so I didn't bother getting it.
The groupon is valid for a pasta item up to the value of £6.90 but according to their online menu on groupon and their website, all the pastas cost more than £6.90.

The location was also a bit far so it took me a while to get motivated to go.

Finally went on a week day and the menu was literally different to the online menu and groupon.
It allows you to choose a pasta and sauce which makes your choices flexible.

As well as Pasta, they had Tigella (round breads with a choice of fillings), Erbazzone (spinach pie) and desserts!.

It was really hard deciding what to order but pasta had to come first.
Since this place is called Tortellini, I went for the Tortelloni which was filled with spinach and cheese.
Other captivating choices were tortellini (filled with parma ham) and the maccheroni which is unique to Tortellini cup.

For the sauce, I got the tomato sauce.

In a way, I wished they could throw in a few pieces of the maccheroni or just a piece of Tortelloni so that I could try it ad see how they taste.

It was good that the Parmesan was served separately but the the pasta was served in a paper bowl which looks quite different to the cup as show on their website but still good.
As for the taste, the tomato sauce tasted great as there was that home made taste to it and the plump tortelloni was delicious filled with cheese and spinach.

Hopefully I will be back in the area again because I plan to try the Tigella with parma ham as it is more affordable compared to Panino Giusto.

[Restaurant Review] Flour and Grape Gigli

With so many fresh pasta restaurants about, Flour and Grape was another one that was worth checking out.
It is located near London Bridge on the corner of Bermondsey Road.

When I got there, I was greeted with a chefs making fresh ravioli and other pastas through the window.

I was lucky that I was early because the restaurant was quite full within twenty minutes after I sat down.

Before you order, they serve you sparkling or non water on the house.

The menu:

There were nine pastas to choose so I had to reduce my choice to one.
Clearly it was going to be the Gigli as I have had my fair share of ravioli and parpardelle at other places. To be honest, to compare I should compare like with like but not every pasta place serves the same pasta with the same sauce.
They also had taglierini with truffle but again I have had countless plates of pasta with truffle.

I ordered the Gigli which is pasta that looks like carnation flowers.
Gigli ~ sausage, fennel, chilli ragu, broccoli fiolaro

When it arrived, it did not disappoint.
Every mouthful was tasty especially because of the sausage and fennel.
In a way, it tasted like the Pappardelle with fennel sausages & peppercorn ragu at Padella except the pasta was different.

The gigli here had broccoli as well which complemented it nicely with some vegetables and green for the visuals but perhaps a little over cooked because the green was a bit dark.
Overall, I was impressed with the pasta and don't mind coming back again if there is something different on the menu.

Returned three years later and the prices have obviously gone up.

This time I had the monkfish Linguine with tomato, garlic, chilli and the Pappardelle beef short-rib ragu.

I was not fond of the monkfish Linguine because it was too salty and garlicky.

The Pappardelle beef short rib was really satisfying while the portion was big with generous pulled short rib meat.

I felt that they executed it better than Padella.

[Review] Bancone

Pastas restaurants are trending especially when they specialize in freshly made pasta of all shapes and sizes cooked in different ways.
There are many notable pastas restaurants out there like Bancone and Padella so why not check then all out.

Bancone is more upscale located near Charing Cross station.

They are so successful that there are now two branches with one near Soho at the Golden Square.

However the menu is different for both restaurants so I ended up going here because they had the cavolo nero malfalde with taleggio and toasted buckwheat.

The pasta was visually stunning but it lacked taste.
I could taste the grassiness of the kale but the whole thing was just bland so I had to add some salt to it which made it much more palatable.
Although it was not a good first experience, I think I should go back and try the other dishes.


Bancone Michelin Status: Bib Gourmand

Revised the London Bridge branch but for some reason their pastas consistently do not hit the spot for which ever pasta I tried.
I suppose the borlotti bean ravioli was the nicer of them all.
I think their pastas are heavy on the butter and the texture is too al dente which is quite different to the soft fresh egg pastas.