Harden's survey result
Summary
This quartet of modern pasta joints offer “high-quality ingredients” and staff who “make you feel very welcome”. But the cooking divides opinion sharply, with some reporters praising “good, unpretentious” cooking “at a fair price” and others complaining of “tiny, overpriced helpings – avoid!”. A more nuanced judgement: “good but could be so much better – menu had some great options but everything seemed overpowered with butter/oil”.
Summary
This “relatively new addition” to the capital’s Italian restaurant scene “doesn’t disappoint”, serving “delicious homemade pasta and a good variety of starters” at the four sites it has opened in two years (Islington, Battersea Power Station, Shoreditch and, most recently, Richmond). It‘s the brainchild of Andy Bassadone – one of the UK’s most successful restaurateurs who, for example, rolled out Côte; and it is part of the Various Eateries group owned by Hugh Osmond (of PizzaExpress and Punch Taverns fame).
Summary
“The best vitello tonnato ever tasted” was one fan’s recommendation at Louis Korovilas’s Islington yearling, which serves a range of affordable pasta alongside Italian street-food dishes. Another supporter “raved about Noci last year, but found a recent lunch a little disappointing with cooking lacking the earlier refinement”; but even they still thought “this is a cut above the usual Italian fare and still something of a find”. In any case, Korovilas must be doing something right, as in May 2023 (too late for our survey) he launched a new offshoot in Battersea Power Station; to be followed swiftly in August 2023 by one in Shoreditch.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Noci?
Best Italian restaurants nearby
Italian restaurant in Shoreditch
Italian restaurant in Hackney
Italian restaurant in Hackney
Best similarly priced restaurants nearby
Japanese restaurant in Old Street
Mexican restaurant in Shoreditch
American restaurant in Hoxton
