18-19 St Albans Place, London, N1 0NX
Tel: 020 7288 1123
Transport: Angel (Underground)
Hidden down a quiet road off Islington’s Upper Street lies
an authentic Italian restaurant with simple décor but strong accents,
indicating that local Italians give it the seal of approval.
The joint serves a variety of Antipasti, Pesce (fish) and
Carne (meat) dishes, a selection of gelati and other classic house desserts, a
variety of liqueurs and limoncello, and coffees.
While we sipped on a bottle of the light and refreshing
Malvasia di Puglia wine, £15.95 or £4.25 a glass and from the home
region of our waitress, we started with Calamari Fritti (£5.95), lightly deep
fried, meaty squid, heavy both on flavour and the excessive portion size – it
would have been big enough for a table of 12, and was very good value for
money.
We also ordered the Bruschetta (£5.95), a selection of
thick, heavy, slightly charred bread topped with roasted vegetables such as
aubergine and courgette, cannelloni beans, tomatoes, garlic and cheese. Though
the dish was drenched in olive oil, the toppings were delicious.
Already stuffed from our starters, we tucked into the
Risotti Ai Frutti di Mare (£14.95), Arborio rice with large prawns, mussels and
calamari in a light tomato and white wine sauce. More like a soup then a
risotto as it was mostly on sauce with little rice, the saving grace of
this dish was the amount of seafood, which provided the main flavour.
To test out the namesake wood-fired pizza, we opted for the
Amici (£10.95), made with tomato, buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomato, Parma ham
and (too much) rocket. Again, the pizza was huge – far too big for one person –
and unfortunately lacking sauce and served slightly cold. The ham and tomatoes,
however, were delightful.
Despite the indulgent first two courses, I’m glad we made
room for dessert – the Profiterole (£4.95), three cream bignes covered with
chocolate, was absolutely to die for, coated in a sweet and delicious chocolate
icing.
For an authentic yet highly indulgent Italian meal in basic
surroundings, Pizzeria Oregano is definitely worth a look.
The restaurant is open Monday to Thursday 5.30pm to 11pm,
Friday 5.30pm to 10.30pm and Saturday and Sunday 12.30pm to 11.30pm. They
offer 25 per cent off the à la carte menu every Monday.
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