Hello everyone! After three weeks, I’m back talking about cultural life in London. No, I wasn’t on vacation (sadly), but I had a medical problem and I had to recover… Long story short, I suffered a fracture on my fourth metacarpal and it was severe enough it required an operation. Unfortunately it was on my right hand, so this meant I was out of commission for about three weeks. I’m very sorry I missed talking to you guys, but now I’m on the mend (and slightly allowed to use my laptop) I promise even more posts about things I love in London. And the first one is right here!

After having postponed it twice already, we finally met for leaving dinner and drinks this week with our former colleague, Lara. We wanted to do it two weeks ago, but since I was having the op then, it was decided to be moved forward. The place was the same, it was just a point of picking a date. But, OMG the place! I have been to a lot of restaurants in London, but this one I think is one of the best! For those of you who know me, you must know how much I love Italy (here and here)! It seemed fitting then that Lara, who is Sicillian, would invite us to Piccolino, an upscale Italian restaurant very close to Liverpool Street Station.

We had our dinner (and many glasses of Prosecco at least in my case) in the terrace at Exchange Square at a lovely table with some comfortable chairs. The music was fantastic; a selection of song covers that got us into a relaxed mood. If only it was less loud, because in the beginning we thought we had to speak up. So, first things first, we were all served a glass of prosecco, which in my view is now necessary to get anything started. After the prosecco we took our sweet time to select a starter platter with cheeses and meats from Italy and had also three pizzas. As Lara explained the cheeses and meats were imported from every part of Italy, so you could have a literal tasty of all culinary treasured Italy has to offer! The platter had Parma ham, Sardinian pecorino, ricotta, gorgonzola, mozzarela and it was absolutely delicious!

After we finished with that, and I had my second glass of Prosecco, our pizzas arrived! I can’t tell you how much I love pizza, especially if it is proper Italian! I don’t know if it’s the dough, or the ingredients or the sauce, but anytime an Italian cooks pizza, it’s delicious goodnesss at your fingertips (and mouth)! We had three of them for four people and of course one of them was a margherita, or the “Queen of Pizzas” as Lara says. The pizzas were also nicely cooked and quite huge I have to say! We weren’t able to eat everything, so we had to carry our leftovers home and one of my colleagues was so very happy about that!

After we finished eating, we were served some yummy chocolate thingies with caramel inside and Lara and me ordered a Cosmo to put an end to that dinner. Of course it wouldn’t be a proper Italian dinner without some Limoncello at the end! A refreshing finish to any dinner, Limoncello is the best!

Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about Piccolino. It is a fantastic restaurant in the heart of London at a very convenient location with very authentic Italian cuisine, delicious food and very nice staff. If you are in the area during the week, and you want to grab a bite, this is a place I highly recommend! Of course they don’t serve only pizza; they also have risottos, pasta and some fish and seafood I’m just dying to try! Oh well next time!

Piccolino restaurant