Polpo

JD and I often walk past Polpo whenever we are in town and always make a mental note to pop in there one day to grab a bite to eat. I suppose one of the things that has put us off in the past is that they don't take reservations and we don't particularly like waiting for food ;)

Bearing all this in mind, we chanced our luck and rocked up on Saturday for a late lunch around half 2 and got seated, yay! Polpo is supposed to be a bacaro, aka. Venetian wine bar where one eats, drinks and generally is merry, I guess? Am not sure myself what a bacaro is supposed to look like but the decor of Polpo definitely reminds me of Spuntino, also owned by the same folk. I have to say that on the whole, the food at Polpo trumps Spuntino plus there is a lot more stuff on the menu that I would happily go back and try out. Polpo's website says they are open for lunch and dinner with a break in between but on our visit, we were told that they had recently started opening all day on Saturdays so good news for anyone looking to try out their grub!

Main dining room, we were seated to the side of the bar area (see below) 

 Arancini - deep fried cheesy risotto balls. I liked them but JD found the thyme a little overpowering.

 Fritto misto - my favourite dish of the afternoon. So simple but so so yummy......and the batter was so light, wow! 

 JD's favourite dish - mackerel tartar with horseradish and pane carasau. Really wish everyone served their pane carasau like Sardo (ie. brushed with olive oil and salt and lightly toasted).

 White pizza with cheese, thyme and red onion - good, but not Princi good!

Roast spuds with garlic and rosemary - am a sucker for the simple things in life! :)

Flank steak with rocket and porcini cream - lovely and the portion was super-generous!

 The one disappointing dish of our meal - purple spouting broccoli with anchovy dressing. Broccoli was overcooked and dressing was bland - frankly, overcooking veg is taking the piss a bit.