Good Italian restaurants are few and far between. Don’t get me wrong there are hundreds of them in London they seem to be everywhere but when I am invited to review one or go to one with friends and family I always do a little research first. Call me a food snob I really don’t care but in my mission to shift some of my baby weight (a work in progress) I need to watch the calorie intake and if I am to indulge I need to make sure it is worth the extra time in the gym, extra exercise classes or power walks.
Manitoba Tigella I was pleased to discover was well worth the visit having gone along with a friend a few weeks back. They are the first tigella kitchen to open in London. For those that have yet to experience the delights of tigella they are a traditional stuffed bread from Emilia Romagna (a region in northern Italy not a female chef).
This restaurant has a lively atmosphere with upbeat yet relaxed music playing in the background. It comes across as a trendy place and has some gorgeous cocktails on the menu. They even have a happy hour from 4 to 8 every day which is great for those that want to work their way through the cocktail menu. Just to add the Pina Colada was lovely!
My friend and I were seated upstairs where we had a view of the whole restaurant including a large screen television playing an Italian film. I could even see the chef in the kitchen preparing dishes if I repositioned myself to take a look. The wall at the back of the restaurant upstairs was covered in street art and this seemed to work well.
There is a mix of dishes available and the vegetarian diners among you need not fear they have you covered too. The starters came out quickly which was great as I had a long day and was ravenous.
Starters
Tagliere Misto
Board with 30 months aged Parma ham, Felino salame, mortadella, Parmigiano cheese D.O.P. 24 months aged, stracchino cheese, Italian olives, sun-dried tomatoes, selection of tigelle & gnocco fritto.
This was great everything looked really tasty good and we couldn’t wait to tuck in. The dish is simple, you make your own sandwich with the bread, meat and cheeses provided.
I enjoyed getting stuck in there and the flavours all combined well. These are tasty and are great as part of a meal with friends or a snack with some cocktails. These are one of those fun social dishes that everyone gets stuck into like the Mekong Pulled Duck Spring Rolls I had at The Banana Tree in Soho.
The mix of breads was good the gnocco fritto which is the one you see on the left in the picture is nicely puffed, flaky, salty and so delicious that I was so busy enjoying the flavour and texture my half just well kind of vanished really before I even had a chance to contemplate which salami to lay over the top of it, opsy. Clearly it was good enough to eat on its own. It was a shame there weren’t more of these. The tigella had a pretty design moulded into them. We cut these in half and we stuffed them with a range of the items served. This was great as the antipasti provided were good as was the portion. The olives were plump and meaty, the sundried tomatoes brought with them a richness of flavour that really did add to these tasty sandwiches. The thickness of the salami was good, nothing was too thin so you could taste the flavour of each well. The cheeses were amazing and I have to admit popping pieces of the Parmigiano cheese straight into my mouth and pouring a generous amount of the stracchino cheese into my tigella.
More Tigella
Aubergine Parmigiana
Avocado King Prawn
King prawn with homemade guacamole & rocket salad.
The gorgeous, creamy deliciousness of the avocado is unmistakable and serves as a great contrast to the peppery rocket and that of the big juicy, firm chunks of king prawn. We ate half each of this and really enjoyed it. What a lovely idea for a healthy yet tasty sandwich filling.
As I looked around from the perfect view point in the restaurant I noticed that the pizzas and tigella were extremely popular with other visitors.
Yellow Fin Tuna
And now for my favourite part of the meal:
Dessert
Veneziana Classica
Manitoba Cream
Sponge cake, custard cream, amaretto syrup & chocolate cream.
This was like a light brioche bun. The chocolate cream added a delicious rich chocolatey flavour and i could see my children fighting over one of these at breakfast – they pretty big so one each would be too much for them.
There are so many more wonderful dishes here but we of course we limited by stomach capacity. We didn’t get a chance to try any of the mains, pizzas, pastas or risottos so naturally I will need to try and revisit at a later date to rectify this.
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This little oks like such a great place to eat at. The food looks delicious and I love the idea of the wall being covered in street art.
It was really lovely and our waitress was really sweet and very efficient.
Oh wow, what an amazing looking restaurant, the decor is beautiful and the food looks amazingly presented.
The presentation was very good and so was the service.
I have never tried Tigella before but the restaurant looks amazing and the food looks lovely too! I want to try the desserts
That Manitoba cream was amazing you must try it!
My husband and I love Italian food, and am certain Manitoba Tigella would be a place we’d visit frequently. If we’re ever lucky enough to go, I’m sure we’d order Yellow Fin Tuna (for her) and Avocado King Prawn (for him). Never one to skip dessert, my my husband would order Veneziana Classica and I’d have a couple of bites. x
I am sure you’d love it there. Those are very good choices Ali, enjoy x
You are right it’s not easy to find an talian with a twist like this, the twist being it’s not the same as all the rest. This one looks absolutely heavenly!
It was great I love that they offer something different.
This looks like a fab place to eat – it all looks really good but OMG that Manitoba Cream looks amazing…!
I know it as sooooooo good!!!!
As a desert fiend the choccy bun looks absolutely delicious especially if you say it is similar to Brioche which I adore! x
You must visit them and try it Ana it was yummy!
I love the decor very cool and welcoming, it looks yummy too, the dessert looks divine, I’m a big fan of desserts ? xx
I have to say the dessert was really lovely.
There are some very interesting food options in the mix there! I’ve never had an Aubergine Parmigiana before but the avo / prawn combo sounds delicious!
It’s great that they offer something a bit different from other restaurants.
This looks so good! Not as good as my Italian grandmother’s feasts, but then, what is? Ha!
I have to say they did a great job and the service was good too.
You’re so right when you say good Italian restaurants are few and far between. So many of them think they are amazing just because they are Italian. However this place looks amazing, I can taste the cold meat plate by just looking at the pics 😀
The meat platter was delicious and went very well with the tigella.
This is so true! I noticed it fater traveled to Florence, especially with Parmigiana and Mozarella! You’re lucky you found one good! Your meals sounds really really delicious ? !!
It was lovely I would eat there again!
I love it that you can look over the chef cooking your food. And that pudding in the jar! OMG, it looks so good!
It did enjoy watching the dishes being prepared. It was fantastic! 😉
All this food is so good, I wish I could just go there and had everything, specially the dessert!
There is a good range on the menu of other Italian dishes too I bet you will love it!!!
Oh I like the look and sound of this place! I love Italians, it’s my favourite food to eat but this definitely has a twist to it!
I love that they offer different dishes as well as popular classics.
I love the decor of this restaurant! The food looks incredibly delicious! I’d love to visit there.
I do hope you get to try it there are plenty of dishes to choose from.
Looks delicious and I love the idea of making your own sandwiches. I’d have probably been happy with just that and the bread is so pretty
It’s quite fun and it a great social meal.
It is hard to find a good restaurant, but looks like you have found a great one, I am definitely going to have to pay a visit x
Enjoy. Their food is really tasty.
Everything looks good! I love the meat and cheese platter. Yum. Dessert looked really delightful. The Manitoba Tigella restaurant sure looks like the real deal if you want fresh, authentic Italian dishes. I will have to make sure I visit some day.
The platter was great everything on it was delicious.
I totally agree with you on the quality over quantity issue and shedding the baby weight. I am struggling with it too. The pictures you posted are enough to make me drool though 😉
It was good quality food here which I liked and I am working on my portion control so this helped.
I like the look of the aubergine parmigiana and the avocado king prawn, they look delicious 🙂 there doesn’t seem to be a lot of yellow fin tuna on your plate! The puddings look scrummy too 🙂
It wasn’t a large dish but it was tasty.
Italian food is probably my favourite so I’ll definitely have to give this place a try x
It’s great there is such a large range to choose from when it comes to Italian food.
I love the street art on the wall -what a funky restaurant. The desserts have me hungry and I only just had breakfast.
I think the street art is great it really does work well.
I have never tried Tigella. The food there does look marvelous. I always love italian. But the atmosphere they set up there is so unique to anything I have ever seen that’s italian. It’s not so much old world but new sensibility. Very unique.
They do have a great atmosphere there and I love it’s so relaxed and inviting.
That avocado king prawn dish looks ah-maz-ing! I agree, good Italian restaurants are hard to find but when you do find one, they’re generally phenomenal!
It’s always great to stumble across a good one 😉
What I would give for real authentic Italian food! Over here, it’s just a genre of quick meals and I have yet to experience anything with the quality and attention to detail that I remember from Italy.
You are really missing out from the sound of it. You must visit this restaurant I am sure you will love the food.
I love Italian food and this place looks great ,the decor is amazing.
Me too and it’s more than just the basics we have seen in some other places which makes a nice change.
Wow what a cool restaurant. The sandwiches look the best! I’ll have to check it out
They were yummy, I loved the tuna too that was tasty.
Sounds like a lovely restaurant to dine at with friends or family. I love that they have a lot of options on the menu! The sandwiches look delightful and so do the desserts!
It is a good one. London is a bit up and down with restaurant quality but having tried this place I can say what I ate was lovey 😉
That’s look yummy place to eat . I’ve worked in Italy for many years and love an Italian food , it’s so testy . I wish I can get there again now . I would love to try some of the delicious food here .
I know you will enjoy their food as much as I did.
This all looks and sounds so good! I love sharing boards, they’re a great way of trying lots of different bits. I agree about making sure the calories are worth it when eating out.
It is important in my eyes to watch what we eat and I hate having to do the extra work in the dish if foods haven’t been to a good standard although I was lucky as this was lovely.
Oh wow the avocado king prawn would be my choice at this restaurant. It looks absolutely delicious!! xx
It was really tasty, we loved it.
Just reading your post made me very hungry. I would go for the desserts in a big way and would love that pesto based sandwich with veggies stuffed in them. Yum!
Their food was really rich in flavour which really did add to the appeal. It’s worth going and trying x
Never had a Tigella before and the shape intrigues me! Also I love the wall art at this place, it’s very edgy!
It is a great place to dine with friends. I would strongly recommend trying their food.
I love Italian food! I’ve never found better than when I was in Italy! but the food presentation in the photographs and the way you talk about your experience sounds like it could be very close – all looks so yummy!
I haven’t been to Italy but the food here has got to be close it was delicious.
More great food – I love the look of the desserts!
You are so right…Good Italian food is very hard to find! When I travel, I try to find good places to eat, and this looks wonderful! The food is well presented and the variety is fantastic! Thank you for sharing this, if I am ever in the area, I will go!