I'd been keeping an eye on Polentoni for the last couple of weeks, eagerly awaiting its opening. A new Italian deli/cucina but a stone's throw from my new flat? How could I not be excited?!
Well, on my way to work last week and finally, Polentoni had opened. There was no fan fare, no 'OPEN NOW' signs, it was just open. I browsed the breakfast and lunch menus displayed in the window and was it was decided, this was definitely a good thing. And so the very next day, on a rare weekend off together, Kip S and I ventured forth to try out our neighbourhood's newest offering.
Sadly we were too late for breakfast, which they stop serving at 11.30am, so we had a spot of lunch instead. There's a menu of mains, salads and sandwiches to choose from, with takeaway available. A young family were finishing up their lunch, ordering more tiny little Italian biscuits for the kids, and a number of people came in for takeaway coffee. We opted to share one of the mains, a selection of fried aubergine, squid and prawns with a garlicky dip, and ordered from the selection of savoury pastries and bites. Kip had a mushroom frittata and I had a barley risotto arancini. We were asked if we'd like these heated up, yes, and my only gripe, which I'll happily put down to teething issues, was that they were still cold on the inside. That and arancini is always better fresh (and with rice), but hey I knew that when I ordered it! The aubergine, squid and prawns though were delicious. I could easily have eaten the portion to myself, but that would have been greedy.
Oh, and the coffees were good. There's a really nice selection, more than just your usual latte and cappuccino. I can foresee myself popping up to grab one to takeaway most weekends.
And I forgot to mention! Polentoni is a deli, so there's a smallish selection of meats and cheeses to buy, in addition to savoury pastries and sweet biscuits and cakes.
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