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Review

Pomino

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Pomino is a neighbourhood Italian / Tuscan restaurant in South London. With luck, and a little investment, the idea will soon be rolled out into other neighbourhoods. It’s an unpretentious, relaxed spot serving better-than-you-might-expect food at sensible prices. The wine list is excellent value – there’s a lot under £20 – and interesting. In short, you’d like on these on your doorstep.

The good citizens of SW17 clearly enjoy having the prototype on their doorsteps. We popped along during one of the snowiest of the recent snowy days, where the weather was rapidly approaching the level where public transport gets completely messed up. This should have been the kiss of death to most customers but everyone seemed content to see things out with a glass or two and three hearty courses. Had there only been half a dozen people in the place that would have been understandable. Given that they were catering to 95% capacity, it’s quite a compliment.

My companion and I were certainly in no rush. Yes, we hadn’t met up for a good two years or more, so had lots to talk about but I wasn’t in any hurry to leave the warmth and decent food either. Besides, if we had got snowed in, where better to sleep it out than a restaurant with good rustic reds and several bottles of Limoncello?

Anyway, to the experience “proper”. After a brief chat in the bar – all dark wood and very cool – with a glass of Sangiovese di Tuscana and some (slightly underwhelming) olives, we moved into the main restaurant. After ordering a bottle of the Sangiovese – a definite winner at £13.50 – we meandered our way through the surprisingly interesting menu.

While there are some dishes you’d expect to see in a neighbourhood Italian here – Prosciutto with Melon, for example, or Bruschetta – for the most part, the selection is rather more unusual, with things such as salad of octopus, arista – carpaccio of roast pork – and sage risotto with chicken livers and marsala. We decided to mix and match a little. I played the starters safe with Pappardelle with field mushrooms, garlic, basil and thyme (£7.50), while my companion opted for Carpaccio of beef (£6.50), which came with rocket and pecorino. Both were pretty good. Not jawdropping, sure, but pretty damn good nonetheless.

Main course choices were slightly bolder. Porchetta (£12.75) – roast suckling pig, wild fennel seeds, roast potatoes – was a robust dish that suited the weather. The same was true of my Beef peposo with braised fennel, crushed potato and broccoli (£11.75). Peposo is a slow roasted, slightly sweet stew – indeed, there’s a hint of honey to the sauce – that packs a rich, warming punch. Perfect winter fare, in fact.

Poached pear, panforte, walnut and honey ice cream and Tuscan chocolate cake with espresso ice cream (both £4.75) finished the meal off to good effect, preparing us for the slippery walk to the tube (although a decent cup of coffee and a shot of Limoncello helped no end too).

If you look elsewhere on the web, you’ll find a quite remarkable mix of user reviews for Pomino. Some love it, some have deemed it the worst place they’ve ever been. The proof of the pudding is, of course, in the eating and, on this showing, I’m squarely in the former camp. So squarely, in fact, that it’s hard to imagine how standards could possibly vary so greatly! If you can provide evidence to the contrary, please send your opinions to the “your shout” section as I’m intrigued to read them. As far as I can tell you though, Pomino is a place that clearly knows what it’s doing and has no pretensions whatsoever. Good value, good food and good atmosphere. Who could possibly argue with that?

Type of food: Italian

Average cost per head, including wine - £35

Rating: 3/5
Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
Value for money: 4/5