Pasta – a 3 ingredient Italian staple that I believe need not be plagued with a fanfare of intense ingredients, chaotic concoctions and senseless spicing. Instead, one must afford it the ability to be the star of the show and shine in its simplicity using good quality ingredients with a dose of minimal fuss! That’s precisely what is practiced at the highly acclaimed South-East London pasta-house – Padella.
Padella is a restaurant I came across fleetingly on blogs and quite recently on the Estrella National Restaurant Awards 2018. The restaurant is a culmination of founders Tim Siadatan and Jordan Freida’s dream to open a pasta bar serving fresh, hand rolled pasta with sumptuous sauces and fillings inspired by their trips to Italy. So, on a pleasantly picturesque Thursday after a meeting in the South of London, I embarked upon a mission to satisfy my insatiable hunger for freshly made, affordable pasta but didn’t know the destination for my quest. After a brief Google search on ‘places to eat near Vauxhall’ I stumbled upon Padella and knew I was destined to dine there!
I journeyed to the famed Borough Market, soon realising that it was my first time at this market mecca (shock horror; what a foodie sin!). Once I’d departed from the tube and almost gotten lost (again for the millionth time) curtsey of Google Maps, I spotted the bold signage above a bijoux sized restaurant along with a throng of pasta-craving customers weaving round the side of the restaurant ‘of course there’s a queue!’ I thought to myself with a smile of disbelief splayed across my face. Although, I did think I had arrived in good time. Ha! To kill time, I decided to peruse through the offerings of Borough Market and perhaps indulge a teeny bit prior to my meal; the aim however, was that ‘I was there for pasta (and possibly churros, but alas I located none!) and pasta alone’!
Post market walkabout done, my stomach growled at me angrily informing me that it needed to be filled. So, I queued. A 15minute wait later and I was carefully trudging down a steep stairway into a dimly lit basement dining area, complete with dark furniture, off-white walls and a greenish-grey marble counter top decked with bar stools and unique lamps. After a brief and awkward flirtatious encounter with a pleasant waiter my dishes and drinks were ordered; I’d chosen the gnocchi with nutmeg butter and pappardelle with 8hour Dexter beef shin ragù along with a pear spritz as my choice of tipple.
My pear spritz was okay; it’s something I’ll recommend if you enjoy drinking cocktails without tasting the alcohol – what I call ‘juice’. Now, if you’re like me and prefer something that tastes of alcohol, then this drink is certainly not for you. The spritz tasted watered down with light notes of fizziness and left me disappointed; after informing a waiter of my displeasure, he offered his apologies and asked whether I wanted anything else. I went on to choose the Padella Negroni and what a superb choice that was indeed! Slightly sweet notes with hints of citrus thanks to the lemon thyme graced my palette, along with that familiar bold and bitter taste of a Negroni.
Now for the food; the gnocchi – a marvellous medley of pillowy-soft potato dumplings paired with a light well-seasoned butter sauce within which flecks of dark brown dust of nutmeg shone. I could not believe something so simple could yield such beautiful results! My face was a picture of amazement and ecstasy – I was on a food high. I hoovered up the 13piece dumpling dish in about 5 minutes (it was probably less actually…) it was a good-sized portion and at £4 per plate, what’s not to love? In that moment, I longed to reside within the confines of Padella and consume more glorious goodness.
The pappardelle was also sublime; large al denté ribbons of freshly-made pasta laced with this rich meaty sauce. It was as though the pasta had been cooked in the sauce for a bit more than usual because the deep flavours of the sauce could be sampled with each bite I took, even when there was barely any sauce coating the pasta. The portion was certainly hearty and you could eat just that and leave full (of course this is very subjective and could never be me but it’s possible for someone else) and priced at just £9.50, your belly and pocket will be extremely pleased. Again, sadness washed over me because I knew I would have to leave the restaurant at some point.
My final dish was a dessert of almond and cherry tart was a lovely way to round off my meal. Sweet buttery light pastry with a nutty almond filling was what I enjoyed, from which plummy-red rounds of cherries poked through and gave rise to a tart and slightly sweet taste. The sour dollop of crème fraiche served alongside was a perfect way to cut through the sweetness of the dish without overpowering all the lovely flavours.
Overall, Padella is anything but regular with wonderfully polite yet swift service and exceptional food; it’s a place I highly recommend will be visiting again and again without a doubt. I’ll finish with some words from a chef I had the opportunity to briefly chat with about the simple and concise nature of the menu:
‘quality is a key thing for us here and we ensure that good quality ingredients are used; having such a concise menu is the result of space restrictions as we are physically unable to make any more dishes. It also allows us to focus on creating top quality dishes that people will love and enjoy.’
I score Padella 4.8/5.
Padella Restaurant
6 Southwark Street, London
SE1 1TQ
thesolofoodie.com 
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