Address: 61 Rupert Street, London W1D 7PW
Web: http://www.spuntino.co.uk/
RATING: 7/10
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Good things come to those who wait. This is the motto adopted by the new(ish) restaurant in town. Set in what could loosely be termed has SoHo's red light district, Spuntino takes no reservations. You just walk in, wait by a narrow ledge right behind diners seated on bar counters.
While you wait, you mentally will them to hurry up: for goodness sake, can't you see we are salivating over what you are leisurely ingesting!
The website is equally bare. Just a background, name and address, no menu or photos.
Pre-warned by various (glowing) reviews we read on the net, we were mentally prepared to wait at least 40 minutes before we were seated. Luckily it was a respectable 20. It gave us ample time to admire the warehouse like feel that restaurants now pay good money to emulate. It attempted to be slightly grungy, very communal - the lighting was very, very dim (my apologies in advance for the photos that follow).

Statutory warning: Spuntino is carb central - it is not for those trying to avoid the dreaded c-word. The first dish we tried was their version of eggs and soldiers. Eggs crusted in a yummy batter and deep fried with perfect toast soldiers...

Olives were given the same treatment - didn't love them though...

The third fried small plate we tries was the eggplant with a yogurt dip, good enough but not memorable...


Sitting around the tables we had the yummy (free) chilli popcorn!! Slightly greasy, smothered in butter….

The coleslaw was much liked by Gurmit. The soft-shell crabs were eaten in a thrice!

The shoestring fries were delicious - light, non greasy and extremely addictive! Reminded me of the old jingle 'No on can eat just one….'

One of my favs was the calamari salad… the picture does not do it justice!

The star of the main courses was the mac and cheese - ultimate comfort food!! Again eating just one forkful was a master-class in self control!

The truffled egg on toast was smothered in cheese - just looking at it made me put on pounds but it smelt heavenly - I took one sinful bite and it was so worth it!

It is in the desserts where spuntino comes into its own…
Their famous peanut butter dessert was sadly sold out !! So disappointing - but we had the cheesecake - utterly delish!!

Their coconut-pineapple eaton mess was probably the best eaton-mess I have ever tried! So much so the I didn't take a single bite of the chocolate brownie - but by all accounts it was really, really good...

Spuntino is American food served tapas-style. Hugely calorific, one place to avoid if you are on a diet! But if you are looking for comfort food done decadently well, you should definitely go there! The staff are extremely friendly; it's interesting to sit around the bar and eat whilst watching the barmen and waiters do their thing. The bar stools and benches are not the most comfortable but you don't mind them.
The one drink I didn't try was the 'Clover Club'. David of the Recipe tells me it is amazing - if there is one person to who knows his cocktails it is him! So do try it and let me know how it was.
I look forward to going back and having it with the peanut butter dessert I missed! I just need to get off my never ending diet first!!