Hello. Sorry I haven’t written a blog for a while, there are
two reasons for this. Firstly I went on holiday and didn’t eat anywhere too
exciting and secondly, I have been writing my dissertation, on food funnily enough,
which has prevented me from leading a normal life. Apologies for the lack of
blogs.
I have also had a few inquiries as to the nature of this
blog, so just to clear up any grey areas, not all of the restaurants featured
are evidently ethical, but they are more ethical than big chain restaurants
because they are often small-businesses that are family run and source food
locally. Also, this means the food is exciting, engaging, unexpected and a
socio-cultural experience as opposed to a fuel.
Anyway, back to Spuntino… beware this is quite a scathing
review.
I really wanted to go to Bubbledogs, a unique establishment
that only serves gourmet hotdogs and speciality champagnes, but on arrival, the
queue was three hours long so we thought we would give that one a miss… (But
stay tuned as I am determined to go there).
One member of the group recommended Spuntino in Soho and
assured me that I would love it. They couldn’t have been more wrong…
Being a Friday night and seating only 30 guests, the queue
at Spuntino was a good 40 minutes long, but you could order drinks and stand
inside while you waited.
The décor is difficult to describe, probably ‘rustic
industrial chic’. I’m talking peeling tiled walls, functional low lighting and
wood shavings on the floor for that ‘I just carved a table’ kind of feel. Staff
at Spuntino are unique – denim shirts, ironic moustaches and edgy
off-the-shoulder striped t-shirts are the standard uniform. The manager, a
charming young gentleman, insists on striking up a conversation with everyone
in the queue (probably to ensure that they don’t leave), but he didn’t give us
any free drinks so I wasn’t overly impressed with his charm.
After becoming increasingly hungry and drunk from an odd
drink known as a ‘Gin Prince Shandy’, we were finally seated. Most of the
seating is around the bar, which is the main feature of the restaurant, but
there are additional seats in a dark corner at the back. Unfortunately, we were
in the dark corner. We sat in a line, as if we were at a bar. This is great if
there are only two of you, but there were three of us so I couldn’t hear a word
of George’s conversation.
The Food:
Initially I found the menu baffling. The variety was odd,
lots of British classics but everything was ‘mini’, yet with the price tag of a
normal size meal. I would say that the food could be described as ‘novelty’,
but it’s mildly annoying when you’re hungry and just want something filling to
eat. I ordered a burger which wasn’t tiny enough to have something else as well,
but it didn’t come with any sides so wasn’t massively filling. With the price
tag of £9 for the burger alone, I think, quite frankly, that’s a rip off.
Other members of the group ordered chicken wings, a boiled
egg with soldiers and a steak and egg for £10, which was literally a small
steak with an egg on top – nothing more, not even a cheeky peppercorn sauce.
And what really annoyed me was the fact that they didn’t even ask us how we
like our steak. After taking advice from our waiter, we also ordered some sides
of ‘shoe string fries’ and coleslaw. I’m a hand-cut chips kind of person so I
didn’t appreciate chips that were so thin they didn’t look like they had ever
begun their life as a whole potato.
Overall the food was overpriced, not especially filling and
perhaps was trying to be something it wasn’t. I had an enjoyable evening with
great company and we definitely experienced a meal that was out of the ordinary,
I just don’t think it was worth the price tag.
Scores:
Food: 5/10, it’s
tasty but there isn’t enough of it.
Ambience: 7/10
Value for money:
3/10
Would I go again:
Not within the next year at least.
