Wednesday 14 August 2013

Ponti's Italian Kitchen

Ponti’s 50th Anniversary food bloggers event


Ponti's Italian Kitchen is a family run Italian restaurant just off Oxford Circus station, it has been trading for over 50 years now serving traditional Italian food from the Emilia-Romagna region. I was invited to attend Ponti’s 50th Anniversary food bloggers event to try their new menu as well as to understand a bit more about the concepts and story with regard to the restaurant.
the dining room
part of the kitchen



We were given a selection of dishes off their new menu followed by a "pizza school" workshop. Out of the lot, I found the roasted butternut squash, buffalo mozzarella with wilted greens exciting me the most, the three ingredients worked wonders together with a touch of creaminess, bitterness and sweetness. 
Olives from Emilia Romagna
Roasted butternut squash, mozzarella di Buffalo,
wilted greens, crispy parmesan & breadcrumbs
Scallops wrapped in Parma ham in garlic butter with warm focaccia


Pollo Rosmarino: chargrilled chicken marinated in rosemary, with chargrilled vegetables, wilted spinach & pesto was the weak link of the evening, the chicken was a little dry and lacked flavours within, however the seasoning on the surface and the vegetables were great, it was such a shame as the the dish was let down by the main ingredient.
Chargrilled chicken marinated in rosemary,
with chargrilled vegetables, wilted spinach & pesto
Salame Piacentino, coppa, Parma ham, vine ripened
roasted cherry tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano
Smoked Scamorza cheese wrapped in Parma ham
with sage butter & warm focaccia

Spezzatino di pesce: salmon, whiting, prawns and clams cooked in a light saffron and tomato sauce was the best dish on the night, lovely rich flavours from the tomato which didn't over power the seafood, while the saffron really opened up the lovely aroma from the salmon. The raviolis was also cooked well, not too soft with a nice tender surface and texture, great balance of spinach and ricotta within.
 Salmon, whiting, prawns and clams cooked in a
light saffron & tomato sauce
Spinach and ricotta raviolini
Pizza school!

All in all it was a very enjoyable event with great food and lovely hospitality. Ponti's Italian Kitchen is all about simple down to earth Italian cooking, Pizza here is also excellent, far superior to the like of Jamie's Italian. To sum it up, while the food is not exceptional compared to the like of Bocca Di Lupo and Murano, I personally think for the price (around £20 per person for dinner) what you're are getting is excellent value for your money. 


Josaron House, 5-7 John Prince's St, London W1G 0JN


http://www.pontis.co.uk


Ponti's Italian Kitchen on Urbanspoon

3 comments:

  1. Lovely to meet you! I can see you enjoyed the evening as much as me. I'm sure we'll bump into each other at another event soon

    I thought it was GREAT pizza too - even cold the next day!!!

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    Replies
    1. I had it on Sat (2 days later) and still tasted bloody great!!!!

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  2. I am the first time visitor of your blog. But I must say, You have done a good job.
    Italian Modular Kitchens along with the Italian recipe would be nice. What you have to say Carmela? Today I don't think anyone from all of us want kitchen just for cooking. Now we have such an advanced Italian modular kitchen available in market we can easily setup in our kitchen.

    ReplyDelete