[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.

[Review] Possibly the Best Hainan Chicken at Mei Mei, London Borough Market

Borough Market is constantly developing and evolving with more and more eateries with the rapidly changing food trends.
There is a new area at Borough Market which houses small joints like Mei Mei.
Mei Mei caught my eyes because of those old green tiles found in the East.

Mei Mei is a Singaporean kopitiam inspired joint headed by Elizabeth Haigh who competed on MasterChef in 2011, and went on to win a Michelin star at the Hackney based restaurant Pidgin.
If you like this type of decor there is another one called Bun House which is HK in the 1960s.

How could I not try Mei Mei because UK has relatively better and fresh ingredients than Hong Kong so I tried their Hainan Chicken!

I was really lucky that day as Elizabeth was there as she had a shoot.

The menu is simple, Hainan Chicken, Fried chicken, Curry and even Congee!

 They even had my favourite soda flavoured with my favourite pandan so that was another bonus!

The soda turned out quite small but it tasted amazing, it was not too sweet with a fragrant pandan taste.

As for the hainan chicken, it was definitely the best!

Why? because they use good chicken from ginger pig Yorkshire chickens and the chef slices it properly giving patrons chicken and not rubbish like Hong Kong's randomly chopped chicken laced with dangerous bone fragments.
Clearly the chef will give you the best and not serve if there is not enough chicken whereas HK will give you wings and extra bony bits which should be thrown away.
Visually the chicken is not bruised or grey.
The most impressive thing was the breast meat was silky soft and moist.
I am so glad I tried this.

Will definitely be coming back for the congee and fried chicken!

[Review] Second visit to Padella

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 but Padella is different as it is affordable.

It is located next to Borough Market in the heart of a food market!

Padella is so successful that they have just opened another branch at Shoreditch on Phipp Street.
In the meantime, get there early as there are always queues of people!

The menu is simple and concise.

My choices were easy,  as I have already tried the Gnocchi and tagliarini with anchovy butter, the Parpadelle and Stracci were my picks!

There was salt and pepper available but the pasta was tasty so it was not needed.
Water was also provided.

Stracci with Sweet onion, thyme and gorgonzola fonduta:

Started with the Stracci which unfortunately wasn't very hot but as I was really hungry I demolished it quickly.
The onions and thyme flavoured it nicely.

Luckily, I gave this another try and it was amazing because you can really taste the gorgonzola blue cheese and get that mouthfeel from the stracci which was a bit elastic.

Pappardelle with fennel sausages & peppercorn ragu:

The pappardelle with fennel sausages was also good because the herb and sausage meat tasted like the sausage meat you get at pizza hut.
On another visit, I had the Fettucine with chicken livers, marsala and sage.

I would completely blown away by how delicious this was. It reminded me of chicken liver pate which is smooth and velvety.

It was similar to that but with a creamy consistency with fettucine tossed in.

Overall, I would really recommend this pasta.

On another visit, I finally tried the dorset crab pasta and was impressed because there is literally no shell fragments in it as well as being delicious.

The visit for Cavatelli with cavolo nero & new season 2023 olive oil was not cold.

The texture of the Cavatelli was too firm and chewy for my liking.
Food is always slow and cold when they seat you downstairs so next time I will only dine there if I am seated on the ground floor.

Agnolotti of delica pumpkin with Westcombe ricotta and sage butter:

On the sweet side for me.

Tagliarini with slow cooked tomato sauce.

I thought I tried everything but there still a few I haven't tried like this and the beef fillet ravioli.

To summarize, its always good especially the tagliarini  because the texture is springy.

Anyway, the tomato sauce was the next level because it tasted like tomato reduction that is punchy and strong without the need for other things like onions or herbs. 

It was a bit like tinned tomatoes but in a fine way.

agnolotti of braised beef fillet in chianti sage butter:

This is not often on the menu was always sold out this was the only pasta not to my liking because the beef has some chewy bits like beef burger which I am not ok with.

Other than that it was good.

gnocchi in nutmeg butter:

Simply the best executed gnocci in the world.

Not my first time but glad I had it again to confirm its consistently good.

You will find the texture is very different as they are very soft silky clouds with some flour mixed in hence they won't melt in your mouth like mashed potatoes.

Simply lush with the grated cheese and nutmeg butter.

The amazing thing is the fine nutmeg they use which is aromatic just like the ones in M&S custard tarts.

Some herbs and spices can look the part and lack flavour or aroma or they can be artificial.

Bruschetta of Coco Blanc:

Italian beans on toast!!

Desserts at Padella.

Will definitely visit the new branch of Padella and see how it fares!

Gnocchi and Tagliarini at Padella (First visit)

Michelin Status as of 2020: Bib Gourmand