Italian Fine Dining at Trullo, Highbury & Islington.

Not far from where I work, nestled amongst the kebab shops and betting establishments of Highbury & Islington, is a little gem. Trullo is a beautiful Italian restaurant serving fresh home-made pasta and deliciously inspiring food, all within a gorgeous and ever so quaint little restaurant. I am in love. Italian food is a favourite of mine, yet I’ve never been to Italy. I’m hoping when I do eventually get there, the food is like Trullo’s.
C and I decided we needed a girlie dinner and a gossip/chat/life-evaluation type of evening, so off we went. Considering we’d never been to the Highbury end of Islington before, we found the restaurant really easily, you can’t really miss it as it’s the only nice looking place on that particular street.
You walk in and the atmosphere instantly changes, the hustle and bustle of outside fades away and you’re surrounded by a room filled with candle-light. There’s an upstairs and a downstairs (basement) at Trullo, the upstairs is charming and romantic, while the downstairs has a warehouse trendy vibe. We were downstairs.
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The menu is fairly small, but has something for everyone. We both started with pasta; C had the Pappardelle with beef shin ragu, while I had the Tagliatelle with trevise and pancetta. The pasta was freshly cooked, and you could certainly taste the difference. It was cooked to perfection, and I wouldn’t hesitate in saying it was the best pasta dish I have ever tasted. Please excuse the photos, I usually hate using the flash for food pics but I had to as the lighting was so dark.
Pappardelle with beef shin ragu

 

Tagliatelle with trevise and pancetta. The best pasta dish I have ever had in my life.
For mains I had the Black Hampshire pork chop with wet polenta, porcini and salsa verde, and C had the Poached duck leg with turnip, carrot and swede with chopped chicken liver and dragoncello. My pork was succulent and melted in my mouth, and the wet polenta was deeelicious! C’s duck was yum, but sadly her veggies were a bit hard and undercooked – waaa.
Poached duck leg with turnip, carrot and swede with chopped chicken liver and dragoncello

 

Black Hampshire pork chop with wet polenta, porcini and salsa verde
I was really looking forward to dessert, but it was a bit of a let down 🙁 we both had the Spiced ginger cake with poached pear and vanilla mascarpone, but the cake was very dry and could really have done with a thick gooey sauce.
Overall I am completely in love with this place and will definitely be going back very soon! It’s the perfect place to go for a date, just make sure you don’t choose the ginger cake! You can also hire the entire downstairs part, which I reckon would be really great for a big celebration dinner or party!
*I was invited to review Trullo, and therefore our meal was complimentary.
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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

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2 Comments

  1. Unknown
    January 28, 2013 / 4:33 pm

    This is where my sister works (Rachael) and her boyfriend is one of the chefs! Love this little place for lunch, haven't had dinner there yet but I will be doing at some point.

    alittleonesadventures.blogspot.com

    • Catherine Lux
      January 29, 2013 / 3:53 pm

      Oooh! It's so lovely isn't it! I'm definitely going back soon – the pasta was incredible!

      C x

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