Prezzo’s summer menu – a review

As an avid foodie and Italian food aficionado, I was invited to review Prezzo’s new summer menu at their St Martin’s Lane restaurant.  The new seasonal dishes have been put together by executive chef Paul Lewis who said, “There’s a taste of my travels through Umbria in all of these dishes.”

We’ve been a number of times to Prezzo but we’d never been to the one in St Martin’s Lane and upon arrival I was impressed by the décor. It’s very modern and bright and there are some lovely decorative touches. We were shown to one of their best tables – a circular booth table by the window.

We opted to start with our usual Aperol Spritz and ordered the four flatbreads to share whilst we looked at the menu. The four flatbreads consist of: N’duja sausage and mozzarella; mini bruschetta; prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato; and a mini pane con cipolla (which is onion in Italian). My husband absolutely hates onion so he asked for no onion and they were more than accommodating. I really enjoyed the flatbreads, with the N’duja sausage and mozzarella being my favourite as I do love a kick and boy was it spicy!

For starters we opted for the Italian sharing board, which is one of the new summer dishes. The board consists of a selection of 5 starters: Italian hummus, made with cannellini beans, tahini, garlic, lemon and rosemary, topped with a roasted red pepper tapenade and served with grilled flatbread, crispy crab bites, calamari served with a pesto and mayonnaise dip, mozzarella in carrozza (lightly fried mozzarella in bread crumbs) served with a tomato sauce and Italian meats with marinated olives. The sharing board was very generous and very yummy! I liked everything although my favourites were the Italian hummus with grilled flatbread (the red pepper tapenade elevated it to another level) and the calamari with the pesto and mayonnaise dip.

I chose the Asparagus and mascarpone panciotti, which is a filled pasta similar to ravioli, with olive oil, mint butter, peas, asparagus, spinach, lemon and bella lodi cheese as my main. It’s very seasonal and was really tasty. It could have done with a little more seasoning but that’s down to my personal taste. The portion size was really generous too.

My husband opted for the Penne alla rusticana, which was penne with seasoned chicken, rosemary, pancetta, red and yellow peppers and a creamy tomato sauce. Again, a really generous portion. Of course I had to try it and I thought it was really tasty. Both pastas were – crucially – cooked perfectly al dente. There is no greater crime than over-cooked pasta!

To drink, we chose a bottle of chilled prosecco to accompany our starters and mains as well as a bottle of San Pellegrino.

Usually we don’t order desserts at lunch (often because we eat so much so are usually too full) but you cannot review a restaurant and not try a dessert! We chose again from the new summer dishes and had the Panna Cotta, which was three mini panna cottas accompanied by a summer fruit compote. I could tell as it was being brought to our table that it had a good wobble – essential for a good panna cotta. They were absolutely delicious! Creamy with a good hint of vanilla and although the compote was more jam-like, just a little touch of the compote with the panna cotta was a beautiful thing. I’ll definitely be ordering them again!

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Prezzo in St Martin’s lane. Great food in a lovely setting and the service was attentive and friendly. I highly recommend giving their summer menu a try.