Pizzicotto

Editor's note: in summer 2021 this was rebranded as Pino - same site and owners. 

Pizzicotto is the younger sister of Il Portico, a more formal Italian restaurant just a few yards along the road that has been running since 1967. As the name suggests, it has a proper pizza oven, but also serves pasta and other dishes in addition to the selection of pizzas. Tonight I decided to try some of their other dishes, having sampled the pizza here on my previous two visits.

The wine list started at £20 and had plenty of choice below £30, though rather irritatingly it doesn’t list vintages. Livon Sauvignon Bianco Collio at £33 is one example, but the shop price of this varies quite widely by vintage and without that information I can’t calculate the mark-up. Towards the top of the list, Antinori Tignanello was the 2015 priced at £110 but its current retail price is £106, so was a steal. Similarly the Sassacaia Tenuto San Guido at £210 is likely a bargain, though without knowing the vintage (the 2015 vintage currently retails at £220) it is hard to quantify just how much.

Focaccia cooked in the pizza oven arrived on the table and was soft and supple (easily 13/20). Tagliatelle ragu had pasta with nice texture with a pork belly ragu that had reasonable flavour (13/20). Risotto primavera had decent texture , topped with asparagus, peas and Parmesan Reggiano cheese (13/20).

Service was friendly and the bill came to £105 each, but that was with a couple of bottles of the Tignanello as well as other drinks. If you ordered three courses and shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical cost per person here would be around £50. Pizzicotto is a very pleasant place to spend an evening, with an appealing menu, a warm welcome and capable cooking.

Further reviews: 07th May 2016 | 20th Mar 2016