James Clark visits Tavolino Tower Bridge Italian Restaurant, and samples Sicilian food of the highest quality.
If I had said to a friend let’s meet at an Italian restaurant near Tower Bridge for dinner a few years ago they would have laughed in my face. The area was well known as a tourist trap, with restaurants serving mediocre food for a high price. But that has now changed.
There has been a real shift in the area and riverside restaurants such as the Sicilian Tavolino have opened their doors. The restaurant is split over two floors, with the added bonus of having a large outdoor seating area for dining alfresco in the sunshine. Unfortunately the sun did not shine for my visit, but I sat at a table on the upper level overlooking the river Thames and Tower Bridge; the perfect view that reminded me of why I love this city so much.
Tavolino Tower Bridge Italian Restaurant
The cream and terracotta coloured dining room was a hive of activity as Londoners enjoyed cocktails with work colleagues, young couples got to know each other better and a table of young women were happily singing happy birthday to one of them. I felt pleased with my choice of restaurant and got comfy for my night ahead.
As I read through the menu I felt transported back to a trip to Sicily many years ago. I ordered a bottle of Moretti beer and various Sicilian style aperitivi to start. My favourites included the fried cacio cavallo cheese with honey and fennel salt and olive bread that I dipped in olive oil and seven year aged Aggazzotti balsamic vinegar from Modena.
Sicilian Tavolino Menu
After a short rest I settled on the Devon crab with buffalo ricotta, endive and pistaccio dressing. The dish was presented perfectly, tasted delicious and was light enough to get excited about the main dish.
Silk handkerchiefs caught my attention purely because I had no idea what would come to my table.
Another Moretti later and the dish arrived in front of me. The waitress explained that I was about to eat fazzoletti pasta from the Liguria region. It was silky to taste and complimented by the Burford Brown egg yolk – not just any old egg yolk, and smothered in walnut butter. I’m not sure how something so relatively simple could taste so good, but I guess that’s why millions of us flock to Italian restaurants every year.
The desert menu read like a work of art, but I settled for ice cream made onsite which was nice and light, and one more Moretti – this one was 0.5 percent alcohol, which I’ve started drinking recently. It tastes the same as the more mainstream alcohol version.
After dinner, I headed downstairs too the bar and enjoyed a negroni bianco made from colonel fox gin, italicus, and martini ambrato. The perfect end to a perfect night.
James’ Verdict
Book now. Sicilian food at its finest. Long love chef Louis Korovilas.
Tavolino Bar & Kitchen
2 More London, London SE1 2DB.
T: 020 8194 1037
Open 11.30am to 10.30pm (Sun to Wed) and to 11pm (Thur to Sat)
