Caponata

Press Reviews (4)

• Zoe Williams (22nd March 2010)
  4/10
  
  “Jekyll and Hyde” stalk this would-be Camden Scilian – a “fashionable” spot which manages “to give the impression [of] eating in someone’s garage”. “Powerful yet sophisticated” main courses of rabbit and “endlessly tasty” venison are let down by a starter tasting “like regurgitated dog food”, and desserts which were little better: “the semifreddo had the consistency of something you might use to plug a draught and tasted of nothing at all.” “I suppose this is what you’d call uneven, but that seems too neutral a word for a meal with such dramatic highs and lows.”
• John Walsh (7th December 2009)
  Food 3/5 stars, Ambience 4/5 stars, Service 4/5 stars
  
  The critic reviews a ‘new’ Camden Town restaurant that re-opened under the current name as recently as April (which we visited and reviewed at that time). We’ve never quite understood how it’s been PRed as being ‘new’ of late, and there’s little in this review to give any indication. Perhaps the re-launch is just a sign that – though no fault of the establishment, which we rather liked – things are just not going well: the critic finds “hardly a soul” present on a lunchtime visit. Shame. “The menu is heftily and authentically Sicilian”, and the waitress was “attentive”. Even if realistion was “a bit curate’s egg “[I]t’s time Camden Town woke up to this temple of sunlight and adventurous cooking in its midst”.
• Marina O'Loughlin (26th June 2009)
  3/5 stars
  
  This “brave” new addition to Camden’s improving dining scene – on the former site of Café Delancey – consists of an “informal bar-café”, and “more elaborate Ristorante” upstairs, plus a “live arts venue, The Forge”, too. The critic visits the ristorante, where “the flavour is firmly Sicilian”. The food is mostly “excellent” (only “one car-crash dish”), with puddings that are “[t]ruly first class” – courtesy of ex-Zafferano patisserie chef, Antonio di Salvo. Prices are “no cause for alarm’ and the design is “striking”. She finds “[t]he whole thing [...] youthful and funky and fun”.
• Guy Dimond (26th June 2009)
  3/5 stars
  
  The critic likes the “sleekly modern Scandinavian look” of this Italian newcomer in Camden. Being part of a music venue, The Forge, “[i]t would have been easy to turn out the usual pizza and pasta”, but they have opted for a more ambitious, “mostly Sicilian” menu. He is not entirely convinced by the execution of some of the dishes, however, and suggests that “the kitchen is still finding its feet”.