Padella, Shoreditch

With two spots in London - one in Borough Market and one in Shoreditch - Padella made waves in the capital for its authentic, hand-made in-store pasta at very reasonable prices. Whether sitting down for a chinwag with friends or stopping by for a quick plate on the way to other things, Padella has you covered.

I had been wanting to try the signature plate at Padella - Pici cacio e pepe - for some time, and an opportunity arose when I realised it wasn't so far to Padella from St Paul's, which I had pre-booked a ticket for. Buono!

Arriving to a completely full dining room for lunch, the Shoreditch restaurant is just off the main roads that are more in the thick of all that Shoreditch has to offer. If, like me, none of this does it for you and you see Shoreditch as Camden's slightly dirtier cousin, then this is something of a relief!

I ended up having two plates of pasta - the aforementioned Pici cacio e pepe, and Tagliarini with dry chili, garlic, and pangrattato. The pici was absolutely delicious - the cheese and pepper giving the pasta an extremely rich taste, the pasta itself being perfectly toothsome. My one negative is that there wasn't enough of it! If you like it, do order another plate!

By contrast, the tagliarini came as a veritable mountain! Again, the pasta was very good, with the chili absolutely dominating. Only order this dish if you can stand the heat!

Lauded as one of the best pasta places in London, I can see why. The pici is exceptional, and I would happily recommend a visit for a quick/budget lunch.

Value for money? £25 for two pasta dishes, a beer and service charge. Hard to beat that price at this quality.

Would I return? Yes, for the pici!