An excellent dinner @angelina.london @usmanhaider097 🇮🇹🇯🇵
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The new Italian-Japanese in east London really knows what it’s doing. The menu here is Italian at its core, but layered with Japanese ingredients and technique. I started with a run of crudo and small plates: kombu-cured bream with smoked butter, akami with wasabi mustard, some truffle hamachi and a crispy cod cheek karaage. Each crudo was sharp, punchy, and perfectly dressed. The karaage was spot on too, but Usman’s tomato salad might have been the most refreshing and addictive plate of the night. The pastas are a bit of a highlight on the menu. The truffle + kombu tortellini came molten and creamy at the centre with a perfect bite – a dish that reminded me a lot of the tortellini from Torissi in NYC. The tomato rigatoni was another standout; deceptively simple, yet the sauce was rich, sweet, and smoky with real depth. On the grills, the aged Angus ribeye delivered, but the dish you need to order is the Brixham skate wing. Binchotan-fired, golden and charred on the outside, tender and flavour-packed within - the flesh just slid off the bone. Easily the star of the show. Desserts closed strong too, with the black sesame Basque-style cheesecake stealing it for me. Clever, layered, and memorable. A seamless operation here from start to finish. Bold, confident cooking and easily one of the most exciting openings in london right now. #notoriousfoodie 🙅🏽‍♂️ Less