The Decor At Latteria Is Stunning... And The Food's Reliably Tasty Too
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A location on the less visited of Angel's two major high streets can make things tough for a restaurant. There's less footfall on Essex Road than Upper Street, so standing out is doubly important. New Italian Latteria is well aware of this, and the combination of a spacious outdoor terrace and swish eye-catching interiors are more than enough to pique the interest of any passers-by.
And when we mean swish, boy do we mean it. We know exposed brick has been done to death in London at this point, but it looks beautiful alongside red and white tiles. Then there's the immaculate curved metal bar behind which the kitchen sits, and the positively bulbous light fittings above. Its a stylish affair that gets you through the door, and makes you feel at ease.
Once you're done marvelling, it's time to eat, drink, or do both. Latteria originally opened as just a daytime venue — breakfast, brunch and lunch — but has begun a dinner service. The latter is what we went for.
The menu has absolutely everything you'd want from an Italian. We're particularly delighted by the presence of arancini, which is far too often the forgotten step-child of Italian cuisine in London, frequently omitted from menus. But who'd want to omit what is essentially deep fried risotto and cheese? Crunchy on the outside, flavoursome within, this is the ideal way to kick the meal off — along with a glass of prosecco.
Over the course of the rest of the evening none of the dishes knock our socks off, but then they never disappoint either. Each tastes reliably good — perhaps our only quibble is a pinch too much salt in the truffle macaroni, but that's nitpicking. We'd happily recommend the burrata, mushroom pizza, tiramisu and profiteroles to a friend. Not as incredible, just really quite tasty. And sometimes that's enough.
Latteria, 56-58 Essex Road, N1 8LR. Open Tuesday-Sunday but dinner is only Thursday-Saturday.
Last Updated 26 June 2019
