Restaurant Review: Padella (SE1)

Just before lockdown 2.0, Pi Media’s Max Raphael went to try out the newest Instagram craze of London: Padella, the affordable, yet delicious gem of Borough Market.

Source: Flickr

My friends often tell me that I’m a 45-year-old man trapped in a 19-year-old’s body. I’d be lying to you if I said they were completely mistaken. I like things like wine bars, early Pink Floyd and sitting down at the end of a long day with a cup of tea to watch the news while sporadically complaining about the state of my back. I religiously shout at “University Challenge” every Monday evening and get annoyed when it’s not Brahms. Why can’t that grumpy bastard Paxman ever let me have the satisfaction of it actually being Brahms when I want it to be? F*ck’s sake.

I’ll admit that this old-fartery of mine extends to gastronomy. I’m a lover of classic food, of classic eateries. The three most enjoyable meals of my life have been had in restaurants with a combined age of over 300. My favourite bar was founded in 1890. I am an old soul, but my therapist keeps telling me that I need to remember I’m 19, so I decided to try a really trendy restaurant for this week’s review.

Padella, the achingly affordable sister restaurant of Islington staple Trullo, has gained rapid popularity with the  Tom Misch–listening, Doc Martens-wearing, rollie–smoking south London twenty-somethings and – according to the TikTok account I discovered it through – is extremely tasty. I also like rollies, and my bank balance was causing me physical pain after a week of particularly heavy drinking, so I thought I’d check it out. 

The first thing you need to know about Padella is that it’s really quite tricky to get a table. They don’t take reservations and the queue is rather long on an average night. My flatmate and I decided to go on a forgivingly mild Sunday evening just before we went into Lockdown II: Electric Boogaloo, hoping that the government telling everyone to stay inside for a month might mean that there was less of a wait. Miraculously, we managed to get in with no queue at all. The restaurant itself is tiny, with three tables out front, exclusively bar seating inside, and a few tables out the back that extend into Borough Market (where we were seated). Greeted by brilliantly friendly staff, we were shepherded through to our table, the smells of fresh pasta leaving me salivating. The menu is small but, to my joy, eminently classic. Simple Italian staples made fast and cheap - the most expensive dish on the menu is £11. 

We started off with a drink, an Aperol Spritz for my friend who is a child, and a Negroni for me, a sophisticated adult man. Both very tasty, and stunningly cheap - the Negroni was 6 quid. SIX. A beer here will set you back £3.50. Crazy.

On to the starter, and burrata was the order of the day. You get what you pay for, really. It’s burrata - you can’t exactly go wrong. Salt, pepper, good quality olive oil and crunchy sourdough with velvety smooth cheese. Yum. It’s nothing particularly groundbreaking, but that’s not the reason you come to Padella. You come to Padella so you can post it on Instagram. The fact that the food is really good is a bonus. 

Up next, the main, and I came here with one dish in mind. I’ve found that a good way to gauge the quality of a restaurant is to order the most simple offering on the menu - if they nail it, you know you’re in a place that takes care over each and every thing that leaves the kitchen. For Padella, it’s a Cacio e Pepe. I have a high bar for this particular dish — it’s one of my favourites — and I’m pleased to report that here it’s done very well indeed. The sauce, an intense, yet delicately handled cheesiness gently caressed with a warm toasted black pepper aroma is a match made in heaven when coupled with the thick, doughy pici pasta. This is the only restaurant I’ve ever been to where I’ve actually felt the need to order seconds - that’s both a ringing endorsement and my only real criticism. The pasta is excellent, but the portions are starter-sized. Granted, I did pay £6.50 for mine, so my gripe comes with a caveat, but I’d seriously recommend ordering two portions - give me 50 quid and a couple of hours and they’d have to roll me out of this place… We skipped dessert (I’d head to Mercato Metropolitano down the road for that) but I’ll certainly be popping back to try the tiramisu. 

I’m an old soul. I don’t usually go in for ‘trendy’ restaurants. I’d much rather sit feeling all 1920s in an ancient French bistro with a cigarette-stained ceiling and a thinly moustachioed waiter than film myself trying to scrape my beetroot mousse off a glorified roof tile inside somewhere that makes me feel like I’m eating in the loos at the Saatchi gallery. But I’m a big fan of this place. It’s one of London’s it restaurants right now, but it’s wholly unpretentious about it. Padella is simple, cheap, and cheerful. Good vibes, and great pasta. Maybe I’ll come back and celebrate when it’s finally Brahms…

Source: Flickr

Padella (SE1)

Price Range: £

Food: 8.5

Value: 9

Service: 7

Atmosphere: 7

Score: 8

This article was published as part of a series of restaurant reviews, written by Pi Media columnist Max Raphael.