Italian pasta/Sicilian street food restaurant group Noci has opened its third location in The Bower, a new high-rise development on the North West corner of Old Street, bringing their singular take on Italian food to an area famed for its hospitality. Unsurprisingly, they arrive with numerous competitors nearby including Padella, Manteca and Gloria, each with enviable reputations, so we approached wondering how they might stand their ground.
Arranged over two floors, it has an attractive terrace out front, and the main space enjoys the light from full height glazing on three sides. The design was relaxed and modern, featuring handsome, comfortable seating and a nice mix of lighting, finishes and layout that keeps it informal. The generosity and quality of the elements you touch establishes a sense that the customer is valued from the start.
We were greeted by the manager, Andrea who proudly talked us through their ethos. As far as possible, everything is made in-house daily, importantly their focaccia and pasta. Their monthly menu swaps in a few new dishes to keep it fresh and is presented simply on one page.
To kick off we needed to try their fresh focaccia, available in three ‘flavours’ served with dipping oil, choosing sun dried tomato and garlic. They cook it the bare minimum, crispy on top, soft in the middle, and both of them were great.
From the starters we chose the Nduja Arancini and Crispy Mussels. The Arancini sat on robust foam of parmesan with texture of foamed humus, which works very well, while the Nduja brought warmth and colour. Frying mussels is all about timing and these crunchy paprika-dusted critters were perfection. The salad beneath them was a crisp mix of cucumber strips, chervil, parsley, fennel, capers, and mint and utterly delicious.
For our main courses, I tried the Silk Handkerchiefs (new for October) and was delighted. The pasta is garnished with bacon-like shavings of fried beef, crsipy sage (always welcome) and a roast egg, finished with parmesan. Simple and gorgeous.
My guest chose the Brown Shrimps, which are scattered over a pasta sheets that wrap the ricotta. Simple and delicious, though they did lean to the paprika yet again. Not saying it’s wrong, just that it loses its value through repetition.
We shared a dessert, by this time replete, street-testing the Peach Budino – an Italian egg custard. It was as pretty and pink as it was gently sweet and tart, delivered with a dollop of thick cream. Superb.
The house wines say a lot about a restaurant, and the two wines from Veneto that we tried were crisp and delicious. Mine was a pinot grigio rosato, guest’s was a lovely dry white trebbiano garganega. And at £7 per glass, they were good value too.
The lasting impression from our visit is that Noci are making exceptional food at a price that will have people queuing round the block – the other Italian restaurants of the area will just have to hutch up and make room.
Related: Restaurant review: FOWL, St James