Piazza Italiana

Housed in a grade II listed building, the former home of British Linen Bank, on Threadneedle Street is Piazza Italiana.

A new Italian restaurant with traditional Italian food in a grand setting. Inside it incorporates the previous Edwardian architecture with high ceilings, Neoclassical Corinthian columns, and wooden panelling with slightly more contemporary touches.

The ground floor is divided into a main dining area, a cosier bar at the back and a private dining room, plus there is also seating upstairs so you can imagine how big this restaurant is inside.

We went to try it out for an early evening dinner on a Wednesday which I would recommend if you like that slightly quieter feel, as it tends to get busier into the evenings.

To start we had selection of breads oils and butter and then we opted for two starters to share. The Gallinacci e patate croccanti which is a mushroom and potato dish, this was in a light mushroom cream sauce, which brought out the flavour in the mushrooms and the thinly sliced potatoes balanced this starter out. I’m admittedly not a mushroom fan, but absolutely loved this – I’m converted!

We also tried the Zucchini e dadolata di pomodori, the courgettes were grilled well and were soft, this was complemented by the sharper tomatoes which when combined with the balsamic sauce brought together the sweet and the sharp of the dish. 

Both starters were light and a great way to start off the meal, we accompanied these with a glass of white and red. They have an extensive wine list, so there is something to suit your tastes for sure.

For mains there are plenty pasta dishes to choose from, but we decided to try something different and went for the Margherita pizza, sometimes you just really want pizza! It was baked on an ultra-thin crust and was everything you’d expect from a higher end authentic Italian restaurant, a large portion, packed full of cheese, Roman-style super-thin crust and almost too big for one person to finish alone. 

On the side I had truffle and parmesan triple cooked chips, these were thick cut chips and perfect for any truffle and cheese lover.

We also chose the Guanca di manzo, slow cooked ox cheek with creamy polenta and red wine sauce. This was a great midweek choice, hearty, full of flavour and importantly the meat was super tender and had a subtle ox taste. If you like beef short rib but never tried ox cheek I’d recommend this particular main. 

The polenta was cooked perfectly, often it can be too runny or too thick, but it was just right. The red jus was rich and matched the ox cheek well.

We had just enough room left for dessert and so we had the tiramisu, which was very traditional and a good-sized portion. You could taste the different layers, particularly the mascarpone and it was accompanied with a light scoop of coffee ice cream.

We also tried the lemon cake, which was light and was lovely for an after-dinner treat.

If you love Italian food or are looking to hold an event in a grand setting, then Piazza Italiana is for you!

Find out more at www.piazzaitaliana.co.uk.