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Da Maria, Notting Hill

3rd December 2017 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: As a North Londoner who’s moved South and rarely visits West, I did not stumble upon this post’s restaurant perchance; it was the review of the great Jay Rayner that led me there. Read his review here.

Italian food is hard to dislike. Pizza, pasta, flavoursome tomatoes and gelato galore, this is a cuisine which can tempt even the pickiest of eaters. It’s seen a bit of a revival of late, moving away from the sea of soulless Bella Italia-esque chain options and into the kitchens of many exciting and trendy small-plate serving central London restaurants (see: Bocca Di Lupo, Polpetto).

Neither a fancy mini-plate affair or part of any kind of chain, Da Maria in Notting Hill offers up Italian food untouched by trends or franchises.

Proper, home-cooked Italian meals made by someone’s Nonna (called Maria, you’ll be surprised to hear) are served on red and white wipe-down table cloths, in a tiny narrow restaurant that seats about 25 people max. The food is inexpensive (the most costly dish is a chicken Milanese at £13, with most main dishes between £6-£9) and the service is full of smiles, strong Italian accents and real Neapolitan spirit.

Eating with a group of Argentines, who if they had it their way would have supper at midnight on a school night, we sat down slightly later to eat. A 9:30pm start meant we had missed the arancini and had to divide the last remaining potato croquette in five. But oh, what a fifth it was! Whipped mashed potato mixed with cheese and coated in a crispy breadcrumb, this starter embodies carbohydrates done right. 

Potato croquette and Aubergine parmigiana

We accompanied this with a aubergine parmigiana to share, which was equally well received; the aubergine was silky soft without being oily, topped with fragrant tomato basil sauce which mixed perfectly with the layers of cheese.

Main courses on offer include Neapolitan pizzas, pasta plates and bakes, with meaty options such a chicken cacciatore and meatballs with roast potatoes. Clearly fans of cheesy pasta bakes, my partner and I shared a lasagna and cannelloni between us. I expected bechamel sauce in my lasagna (and would have been positively upset if it didn’t feature), but was surprised to see it on top of the spinach and ricotta filled cannelloni. Combined with the already rich filling, I though the cannelloni would have benefited more from a slightly lighter sauce. The lasagna, rich but rightfully so, was therefore the preferred dish; glorious, meaty oil oozed out of its layers and mixed into the bechamel sauce (no complaints about its presence here).

Spinach & ricotta cannelloni and beef lasagna

For pudding, sadly the Neapolitan cheesecake had run out (another reason to arrive earlier!), but we were amply substituted with a selection of lemon cake, Caprese cake (chocolate and almond) and tiramisu. The lemon cake was sweet with a counter citric twang, and the chocolate cake, with bashed up amaretti biscuits inside, had a great flavour but crumbly texture, which could have benefited from some cream on the side to smooth it altogether.

Trio of puds: Caprese cake, Tiramisu + Lemon cake

The star of the show was the tiramisu, constructed with delicate lady finger biscuits that held their structure despite the drenching of coffee and booze. Sandwiched together with a mascarpone cream, this was the perhaps the best I’ve ever had. All these puddings were topped off perfectly with complimentary servings of limoncello. This is the kind of hospitality that keeps their customers coming back… along with the outstanding lasagna and tiramisu. And really, why would you go to an Italian restaurant to eat anything else?

Da Maria
87 Notting Hill Gate, Kensington, London W11 3JZ

Filed Under: dessert, food writing, Italian, london, review Tagged With: da maria, italian, london, notting hill, pasta, tiramisu

Indian Canteen food at the YMCA

3rd June 2016 by Eve Bidmead Leave a Comment

Finding dinner for under a tenner in London is a challenge. It’s not impossible, but it’s rare to come by a restaurant that isn’t a fried chicken joint and can offer you change for a £10 note. Certain cuisines always pop up when on the hunt for cheap eats, and a good curry house often makes an appearance. Sticking to Indian cuisine but with a slightly different take on the style of dining, last week some friends and I headed to the Indian YMCA in Euston to try their canteen.

The menu at the YMCA – who says students eat badly?!

I read about the YMCA in a Time Out review and since having returned from Sri Lanka last month, I’ve missed my daily dose of dahl and rice. The Indian YMCA canteen is open to the public, who are required to buy a dinner (or lunch) ticket before eating. This ticket is then handed over at the till before serving yourself from the small buffet selection of currys on offer, accompanied by a green salad, rice and roti. As long as you finish your plate, every guest is welcome to fill up as many times as they want. I wanted to try it all first round, so loaded my plate with the three curries on offer: chickpea, cauliflower and fish.

The cauliflower and chickpea curries on offer, accompanied by some roti bread

In true school canteen style, dessert is the very old school sweet of tinned fruit – not quite a pudding in my book, yet the idea of dessert mixed with school memories left me longing for a jam roly poly in bright yellow custard. Still, the unlimited warm milky tea on offer was well received.

As pudding is more of a novelty gesture than a real dish, more time can be spent exploring the savoury dishes on offer. The chickpea curry had a great texture; the chickpeas had retained their bite while still absorbing the subtle curried spices. The cauliflower curry was a favourite with my friends, although in my opinion it passed into quite a generic curry genre for me – vegetarian with not enough spices or interesting flavours to write about. Not bad at all, just not as strong a contender compared to the fish curry, which had meaty white fish fillets with the skin on, bathed in a thick, slightly sweet tomato sauce. This made the perfect filling for my hybrid fish roti burritos rolls, which I feel could surely be the next big food fusion trend.

curry

My Indian YMCA eat

Comparing Sri Lankan and Indian cuisines may seem like a sweeping racial generalisation, but they do share a lot in common. Dahl, as an example, is a traditional dish to both countries. On this account, though, it’s safe to the say the Sri Lankan versions I had tried were far superior. More of a soup or accompanying sauce than anything, the YMCAs dahl is liquidy without much bite.

Is the Indian YMCA going to be the best curry of your life? No. Is the Indian YMCA a great place for a cheap dinner, with a nice friendly environment and generally good curry? Absolutely. So go, fill your plates and stomachs with some Indian canteen food for less than the cost of two London pints.

Filed Under: food writing, london, review Tagged With: cheap eats, curry, indian food, indian ymca, london

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