Dinner Date: Manteca

Manteca

49-51 Curtain Rd

London EC2A 3PT

To celebrate Valentine's Day my finance and I dined at the latest Italian delight to open it's doors in Shoreditch. Manteca is inspired by authentic Italian cuisine, serving hand-rolled pasta and head-to-tail cuts of meat. Everything is made fresh before your eyes, you can literally sit and watch the bread bake in the wood-fired oven and watch artistry in the in-house salumeria.

The menu offers a gorgeous selection of sharing plates and mains. We started off with Wildfarmed focaccia drizzled with olive oil and a selection of house salamis. The Pig's head fritti with apple mostarda wasn't quite what I was expecting, a little too fatty for me. For mains, we chose the Rigatoni with kale sauce and chilli and the Fazzoletti with duck ragu. Both are absolutely delicious, the rigatoni has a velvety texture with fresh, vibrant flavour and the ragu is rich yet delicate. The meat melts in the mouth and the subtle crunch of duck skin is the cherry on top.

Dishes are served as and when they are ready, so you may have to pace yourself. The atmosphere of the restaurant is super intimate with the added buzz of the open kitchen. The service was wonderful and we had a really lovely evening - a perfect date night to mark the occasion.

Tamara x