“The real biz!” – this “terrific” trattoria, “tucked-away” in an “unlikely” Archway location, is a “crowded” but really “charming” place, where a “small but original” Sicilian menu is realised “with flair”; star turn: “sublime” pasta.
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“Holloway Road isn’t pretty”, notes the critic, but this “spartanly furnished” Italian has a “happy, buzzy atmosphere, fostered by the charming service”. The food offers “straightforwardly great value” and is “generously served” too. “Cinquecento would be pretty much a neighbourhood dream anywhere. In Archway, though, it rates nearer a miracle.”
Terry Durack (19th August 2008)
14/20
“Barely three months old, the place picked up a favourable Time Out review and the unclothed tables and neat wooden chairs are now booked solid by noisy locals and Italophiles”, reports the critic, and rightly so. This King’s Cross Italian turns out to be “functional, unpretentious and good value”. “It isn't trying to change the world, just be a vehicle in which people can enjoy themselves.”
Jenni Muir (31st July 2008)
4/6 stars
A positive review of the new perch, near Archway tube, of a chef (Mario Magli) whose kitchen career “has taken in three of London’s best-known Italian restaurants: Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street, Gennaro Contaldo’s Passione and Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen”. She particularly likes the “exceptionally low” prices (“wines start at £2.05 a glass”), and the all-day opening. “Those average pasta joints”, she concludes, “should be nervous”.
David Sexton (29th August 2008)
Terry Durack (19th August 2008)
Jenni Muir (31st July 2008)
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