Zucca, Bermondsey, London

Zucca is a group of contemporary Italian restaurants serving simple, freshly prepared dishes using the finest and freshest ingredients. Cheers from http://yesshop.yolasite.com/blog.php

Here the complete review and photos:
http://hungryinlondon.com/2011/09/zucca-bermondsey-1-5-ye...

I think I was one of the first blogger (or even the very first?) to write about Zucca just a couple of weeks after it had opened and it was at the same time one of my first posts. I have to admit that this was by chance rather than culinary instinct. I used to live just around the corner and walked past this new Italian restaurant every day on my way to work and thought it looked nice. There we go.

Zucca in its early days was not as faultless as it has been on my recent visits. In the post from April 2010 I am for example criticizing their pasta being overcooked and their dessert bad (my embarrassing early attempts as a blogger here).

I have been at Zucca many times since and have always loved the food. Have just been back again for a boozy Sunday lunch and thought it is time to let you all know that

1. Zucca is not resting on its laurels (bib gourmand and raving reviews) but has kept and possibly even raised its standard

2. Zucca has only marginally increased its prices since the opening 1.5 years ago (about 0.5-2 pounds I guess)

3. Zucca is still my favourite Italian in London by far.

4. The (well-deserved) Zucca hype has resulted in big difficulties getting a table. No place for spontaneity,book well in advance!

Our meal:

We were served tasty,fluffy and moreish frittata as an amuse bouche. You seriously can’t go low on carbs at Zucca,the two choices of bread and the home made grissini were gorgeous and tasted even better soaked with Zucca’s particularly flavoursome olive oil.

The Mixed Salad was wonderfully fresh and aromatic and consisted of a range of different Italian leaves. The Crab Bruschetta might not have been one of the prettiest dishes but all the more tasty. I particularly loved the soft and creamy Mozarella which came with yellow courgette,capers,sorrel and plenty of above mentioned tangy olive oil. You just have to admire Zucca’s ability to make something so toothsome and unique from so few and rather simple ingredients.

If I had to choose one dish I liked the least,it would have been the Taglierini. They pasta was perfectly al dente and so were the chanterelles,but I thought the sauce was a bit to acidic and strong and didn’t compliment the mushrooms as well as it could have done. Nevertheless an accomplished dish which I very happily ate. The Grilled White Sea Bass was truly sapid. Cooked to the point,the fish fell apart in chunky flakes of gorgousness. It came served on a bed of Swiss chard and firm to bite lentils which were very nicely seasoned. Extremely interesting was the combination with the tart rhubarb. I am not sure this really worked 100% looking at it objectively,but I personally tremendously enjoyed this unusual flavour combination.

I had eaten far too healthy so far,so I almost HAD to opt for the Chocolate Cake. What a piece of chocolatey heaven this was! The rich and dark and smooth (and very naughty) cake was only occasionally interrupted by whole hazelnuts that were hidden in its midth.

so sad the meal is over…
I have basically nothing more to add,apart from Please don’t go to Zucca so they always have a table for me!

Simple yet stylish, great food at good price, I like it!

Simply the best Italian restaurant south of the river. No need to say more.

great wines, pastas, and pizzas. really good restaurant, beautiful room

Great selection of Italian wines, small menus and fresh ingredients make this restaurant one of the best in the area. Loved the veal on spinach. Desserts were a bit of a disappointment compared to the other courses. Great otherwise

I had tried to secure a table at Zucca on a couple of previous occasions without success, but after cancelling a camping trip last weekend I finally got lucky and bagged a table for Saturday lunch.

After all the good things I had heard about Zucca, from the likes of the well-respected Grumbling Gourmet, my expectations were high and I was really looking forward to the prospect of a proper Italian blow out – I was not disappointed.

We arrived at around 1pm and the restaurant was already pretty busy. We received a warm welcome from the girl on the front desk and we were quickly shown to our table in the very attractive, white themed, minimalist room. The floor to ceiling windows, looking out onto bustling Bermondsey Street, make this a very light and airy room while the open plan kitchen provides a bit of drama and an alternative focal point. My kind of space.

Getting into the groove I ordered a Negroni while we had a look at the short, very good looking menu. I’m fond of a Negroni and this one was very well made and like everything we ordered at Zucca it came with a very reasonable price tag.

The menu was one of those where you take a look and think, oh hell I just want to order everything. Our difficulties in making a choice were compounded when our very charming waitress ran us through the couple of additional specials of the day. We had to ask for another ten minutes to allow us to come to decision – oh such a sweet dilemma.

After much debate we decided to major on the antipasti and check out the pasta special which meant we would have to try out the meat and fish plates on another occasion.

With the arrival of a selection of three types of bread, which included a particularly flavoursome crispy, focaccia, I was really getting into the mood and decided that something with a few bubbles was required to help wash all this fine food down. They had reasonably priced bottle of Franciacorta Prestige Cuvee Ca’ Del Bosco on the wine list which had been one of our favourite wine discoveries during our holiday in Italy last year so it seemed rude not to take this opportunity to reacquainted ourselves with this lovely fizz from Lombardy

Our antipasti soon arrived and it was big smiles all round as we tucked into the lovely “Zucca fritti; delicate but decent sized crescents of pumpkin encased a lovely thin, crisp batter. This was a bit too much even for two hungry folk and would easily feed four if you order a selection of antipasti. The mozzarella with Sicilian aubergines was also very tasty and teamed up well with our final starter of prosciutto with figs. Top quality ingredients, handled with care, dressed with a careful hand and the minimum of fuss made for three great dishes.

After a short pause it was onto the main event of tagliatelle with a veal ragu. A plateful of silky, velvety pasta with just a little bite and a subtle sauce which had a real depth of flavour. To say this dish was moreish does not do it justice; as stuffed as I was I was still wiping up every last bit of sauce with my bread at the end of my meal!! I commented to B that when compared to many of the pasta dishes we had in Italy they seemed to be a little heavy on the sauce in Zucca; don’t complain she replied and I must agree that when it’s this good you want plenty of sauce.

To finish it was ice cream which came with a shot of espresso; just the thing to round off a wonderful lunch.

By now we were as happy as Larry and in such good spirits that a bit of retail therapy seemed like a fine idea. We paused to thank the lovely staff, booked a table for lunch the following weekend and then headed North.

excellent Italian cucina. the staff are all Italian, zucca fritta is so good, big portions, fresh food, clean kitchen, simple, great wine list. worth it. we ate there two times, once on my beau's birthday, and again last night. yum!

I’ve eaten at Zucca a few times now, and I am every time blown away. The swift, efficient service and knowledgeable staff are a delight, a quality not easily found in London.

And then there is the food... Surprising and exquisite. Fresh and delicate flavours somehow taste like ‘comfort food’. The wine is wonderful and not inaccessibly priced, and my favourite - a nice desert wine after my meal - are well chosen.

Eating at Zucca makes me feel as though I’ve not been ‘dining’ for a long time! Enjoy!

It has been a little while in which I can honestly say I ate somewhere and was really really impressed. Like really impressed to the point that I still have wet dreams about the bread they offered as we read the menu, or the wines they suggested and the panna cotta that was the size of my hand.

Zucca was all of these things. I have been twice. First in February and secondly on the night of the Royal Wedding. I wanted to be sure about it before I wrote a review.

I totally echo what the Grumblinggourmet has said about this place as wel as everyone else.

But my own feelings are that Zucca is somewhere that is a new and valuble asset in London's culinary crown jewels.

Just imagine a place that offers 3 types of home made bread witha generous size dish of exquisite olive oil, then starters that are as low as £4! Pasta that is freshly made and created with flavour and love in each mouthful as well as everything being in season.

This place knocks the spots off 80% of the Italian restaurants found in London and again manages to make beautiful food without leaving you bankrupt. The most expensive main is around £15...by and large. Even if it was £20 for a main it would be money well spent.

The staff are friendly and nearly seducing when telling you about daily specials, they smile and speak with such enthusiasm and passion. The smells that greet you on arrival leave you loosening your belt before you are seated at your table.

I will forever be indebted to this place for having a menu so wonderful that my beloved ordered pasta with ragu here. This is a huge thing as since we have been together she has been telling me how any type of minced meat she won't eat but Zucca seduced her and now she see's what I was talking about! Done right, ragu is stupendous and a culinary hug from a surrogate Italian Mama.

On my last visit we shared some prawns, some zucca fritti, bufala mozarella, spinach and lentils and some pasta with ragu. It was heaven and more. We shared a panna cotta which was so big it would have given Pamela Anderson a run for her money. It was vanilla, creamy joy that made you want to lick the plate clean and beg for more.

A good dessert should make you beg and want to forget the calories that are going to take the next 3 weeks to shift.

The tables here book up fast so whenever there is an opening, go! You won't be disappointed and you will want to come again and again.

Immensely good Italian food at an incredibly good price. I went during a blizzard, and I have to say that it's more of a summer venue (not that it's cold inside, it's just a very contemporary glass/white/pale Ercol-wood space, and there's no coat check), but I loved it. Rigatoni with roasted pumpkin and ricotta was lush, and my friend's pork belly was possibly the best I've ever tasted. A shame the menu isn't longer (a dozen small plates followed a couple of primi pasta dishes and then three fish and three meat dishes), but it's a small gripe. A bigger gripe is the customary and preposterous two hour slot for a table. Hateful. Oh, and you can't tip on your card, which might be a stress if you're cashless. But at least that suggests it's actually going to the server. I'll definitely return.

We recently had a depressing experience at a different yet similarly media-hyped italian which prompted me to think about our time at Zucca again. I was always planning to write a review but for some reason had put it off. Well - now I have the basis for comparison I can safely say that Zucca deserves all praises and then some. From start to finish the service was casual yet attentive, the restaurant was elegant yet enjoyable and the atmosphere buzzy yet personal. And the food? Well the food was perfect really. From the zucca fritti and beetroot antipasti to the sea bream and squid mains and hungrily along to the chocolate tart and pannacotta - everything was very fresh, very well executed, masterfully simple and incredibly tasty! Its very good value and an uplifting choice in this city of unpredictable eateries - so if you are lucky to nab yourself a table please do so...because I can still taste how good that evening was!

Zucca opened earlier in the year to rave reviews from bloggers and critics alike. Many had no idea how they could create their homely yet modern Italian cuisine at the prices they were charging, many of the same people also raved about the quality of the simple ingredients and this man, reading the bundles of food porn produced, licked his lips and vowed to get there, and soon. Well time moved on, and other places opened, and this man didn't get down there (though close) so it was with pleasure while sculling round for somewhere to go last week that this man was reminded of the little (still fairly new) cozy, modern and cheap Italian on Bermondsey Street.

Slightly uncomfortable sub-Habitat chairs aside, the space is a welcoming one. Light walls and exposed brick link the floor to ceiling windows that mirror the open kitchen across the rear. The tables are small and close together, but the high ceilings don't allow the volume to get too loud or your neighbours conversations too intrusive.

And the food? Well I've already booked my return. It's a rare place that makes you feel like that, but Zucca is the restaurant equivalent of a huge hug from an old family friend. And I want another hug. We started, encouraged by the friendly, observant and on the ball waitress, to go for a selection of shared starters. Prosciutto di Parma with a perfectly ripe fig was good, two excellent ingredients in harmonious marriage. Cardoons, celery like sticks of artichoke thistle a rare sight on a menu, came slathered in a thick and slightly boozy fondue cheese which proved perfect for being mopped up by the real star of the starters, the Zucca Fritti. Sticks of pumpkin, squash and carrot with the odd leaf of zingy basil came cooked in a tempura light batter and piled high. The healthiest fried food I've ever had and for a jaw dropping £3 a plate. This would be my lunch, daily, if I lived in the neighbourhood.

You have the option of a pasta course, either before or instead of the main, a bold and light chicory, lemon and gorgonzola taglierini that both companions opted for, and an intriguing bucatini, a spaghetti-like shape with a hollow centre, served with a seasonal pheasant sauce. The gamey notes continued into the carne, where I went for a whole partridge, served with slightly pointless and bland potatoes (the nearest to a duff note I had). Tender as I've had, with a rich stickiness on the breast and a salty umami-filled gravy made from the juices. We shared a homemade tiramisu, rich and creamy, and a panna cotta with poached pear, illiteratively pleasing but as a dessert just too bland for my palate. For £25 a head, it felt like we were committing theft.

Brilliant new Italian on Bermondsey Street - I'll be returning over and over again! The dining room is modern and airy, yet cosy and warm; the staff were really professional and helpful; and the food was superb. Highlights for me were a sea bass carpaccio with a wonderful balance of salt, chilli, lemon and olive oil, and then a delicate hare ragu with freshly made pappardelle. I'm getting hungry just writing about it...

It is exceptional value as well, for food of this quality - we had a LOT to eat (antipasti, pasta and mains) and the food bill still only came to £55 for two.

Highly, highly recommended!

have eaten at Zucca about 5 times since they opened (I work in the area) and have always been really impressed by the elegant and simple dishes that don't try too hard to be clever, but rely instead on fresh and well-prepared ingredients. The service and decor also seem to follow a similiar path of understated quality and simplicity, so don't expect to be swarmed by waiters, or to be bowled over by an overwhelming decor. Instead expect a great restaurant with a frequently changing menu and a nice relaxed setting that will have you coming back for more! Word of warning: book in advance!

I had my first experience of Zucca last night with some friends despite living around the corner from this gem of a restaurant.

I consider myself an avid foodie, so having read quite a few reviews about Zucca, my expectations were pretty high.

We ordered the more popular dishes we had read about, namely the Sea Bream Carpaccio and the Veal Chops - both of which were amazing, but don't miss the deliciously gorgeous Octopus with Peppers and Char-grilled Squid with Fennel too...oh and the Zucca Fritti - Yum!!!

The food is fresh, portions generous but the best part was the very reasonable bill!

I will definitely be back more often, and so glad I have discovered my new favourite restaurant in the neighbourhood!

Zucca is a breath of fresh air. The room is simple as can be: white chairs, white tables, open kitchen, the only real splash of colour coming from an (aptly) pumpkin-coloured daisy on each table. The food is fresh, well executed and really reasonably priced. The staff are friendly and informative. Everyone seems to care about what they do. Our bill came to £50 without service - wonderful value for such a high standard of cooking and such generous portions. I hope other places follow its lead.

Photos on http://www.urban-vegetarian.blogspot.com