A true taste of Italy

Written by Jean Hindry @ East End Life Monday, 18 August 2008 17:30

VISITING St Katharine’s Dock, watching the boats sail by and waiting for the bridge to come down so we could cross, we decided that we would stop off for a spot of lunch at Strada.

They describe themselves as a group of stylish, contemporary Italian restaurants dedicated to providing authentic dishes offering a true taste of Italy.

Admittedly the weather could have been a bit better as we sat outside overlooking the docks and Tower of London nearby but that didn’t put us off.

Would we go for one of their traditional pizzas – each one apparently spun by hand – or would we go for a pasta, risotto, grilled meat or a fish dish?

As we were deliberating we ordered aglio, a basket of garlic and rosemary bread which we eagerly broke into.

Each table is served with a complimentary bottle of filtered water.

I ordered risotto al fruitti di mare, a traditional southern Italian risotto with squid, mussels, prawns and clams, finished off with chilli, garlic and extra virgin olive oil. It was really nice with a bit of a kick.

Rigatoni, speck e gorgonzola was the next dish which consisted of pasta tubes, Italian smoked mountain ham, gorgonzola, rocket, cream sauce and parmesan – very tasty.
Pollo con funghi was the next to appear on the table which was chargrilled butterfield chicken breast with a creamy mushroom and marjoram sauce, and roasted cubetti potatoes. A nice sized portion.

We weren’t going to go for a dessert, but hey what’s a couple of pounds around the already expanding waistline.

The panettone al forno was an absolute dream, a warm panettone bread and butter pudding served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Torta della nonna also hit the spot, a warm tart filled with lemon cream and toasted pine nuts served with ice cream.

The pannacotta wasn’t bad either, a traditional Italian vanilla pannacotta pudding served with mixed berry coulis.

I have to say the service was a bit slow, but it wasn’t a major problem as it was over the weekend and it did give us an opportunity to have a great natter.

The bill came to just over £60 for three including soft drinks.

Strada is at 2 Tower Bridge House, St Katharine’s Way, Wapping. Tel. 7702 0123.