Pasta Remoli – pasta and aperitivo in Finsbury Park

7 Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, N4 3JP

I visited Pasta Remoli twice in one week – once for their Sunday night aperitivo, and once on a Tuesday to sample their a la carte menu. The two experiences were very different, so I’ll try to paint a picture of this restaurant through both lenses.

On both occasions, the service we received was wonderfully Italian: friendly, helpful, and most of all enthusiastic. I loved the setup on Sunday, with bustling bartenders and a beautiful buffet of antipasti, plus four different types of pasta. The atmosphere was buzzing, and for a Sunday night, the place was surprisingly busy. If it hadn’t been a freezing cold day, there would not have been much to distinguish it from the many aperitivos I experienced in Rome last year! The concept of paying for your drink and then helping yourself to the food on offer is a strong one, and pretty reasonable at £12, particularly for London standards. The antipasti was varied and tasty, and my favourite dish was one I don’t know the name of; it was some sort of pesto that spread on crispy bread, which was absolutely delicious!

Unfortunately, the pasta we had was cold, and so we didn’t feel we got the full experience of Pasta Remoli’s namesake. Luckily, we went back for more a couple of days later…

On our second visit we went the whole hog – starters, mains, and desserts, with a couple of aperitifs to boot (more on those later).

I absolutely adore burrata, and so this starter was a no-brainer. Combined with some lovely Parma ham, it was creamy, soft, and melt-in-the-mouth, just as burrata should be!

The mixed bruschetta was a winner too, albeit slightly too tomato-y for my taste (but this was expected). My friend thoroughly enjoyed it though, and even I was swayed by the hint of pesto on the bread!

And then it was time for the main event: PASTA.

We decided to have one simple and one fancy dish, to see if Pasta Remoli was good at the basics as well as the more unique offerings. Unfortunately, the gnocchi with pesto was a bit of a letdown, as the gnocchi was very soft with not much bite to it, and was drenched in the pesto, which lacked a fair amount of salt.

However, the fancy choice, mushroom and truffle ravioli, combined with the creamy mushroom sauce, more than made up for it! The pasta was perfectly al dente, and the mushroom flavours shone through wonderfully. It wasn’t too heavy either, which meant we still had room for dessert.

We were also given a side of both parmesan and Pecorino Romano, after which my companion proclaimed Pecorino his new favourite cheese!

Throughout the evening, we were treated like friends, rather than customers, which I loved. It was some of the best service I’ve ever received in London, as we discussed various menu items and finally chose what to order. When it came to the dessert, we opted for lemon cake and triple chocolate mousse, after which our waiter winked and said ‘I’ll bring you something with that’. By ‘something’, he meant a tart glass of limoncello and a measure of amarone!

After the disappointing gnocchi, I was hoping the desserts would make up for it, and they certainly did; I adored them both. The lemon tart was not too sweet and supremely lemony, whilst every layer of the chocolate mousse excited my tastebuds.

Overall, I almost preferred the Sunday night aperitivo to our a la carte evening, as the atmosphere was one I haven’t often experienced in London, and it would be great for a quiet night out with friends. Having said that, I definitely preferred the food off the regular menu, particularly the mushroom ravioli. The prices overall are very reasonable, and the service outstanding, so I highly recommend it if you’re in the area (the areas being Finsbury Park, or Westfield Stratford City)!

I was invited to review Pasta Remoli, but as always, all opinions are my own.