Emma Louella Donatantonio
+5
I thought I ought to write a review for Sofalino, having spent 2 wonderful evenings there over the past month, once for my birthday meal with family, and then again a couple of nights ago for dinner with my sister. I have been here quite a few times since its opening 5 years ago, and it is one of my favourites in North London.
The food I ate at my birthday meal was without doubt the finest food I had tasted since my holiday in Italy last summer. After having enjoyed the soft, velvety bread and plump & juicy olives upon arrival, I shared the antipasto for 2 with my sister for starter, and went for the veal milanese for main. The antipasto is fantastic; it contains prosciutto, salami, mortadella and bresaola for the cured meats, roasted aubergine, courgette and red pepper for the veg, and is served on lots of rocket with cherry tomatoes, artichoke and black olives. But the absolute highlights of the platter were the buffalo bocconcini, deep fried taleggio in breadcrumbs, and gorgonzola arancini. So many beautiful flavours to savour, and that's just in the starter!
The veal milanese was crumbed and fried to perfection, and was huge! My dad, mum and I opted to have ours with gorgonzola and spinach gnocchi, rather than the standard linguine Napoletana, resulting in potentially one of the best main courses I've ever eaten outside of Italy. Other dishes worth mentioning from that night are the pappardelle with venison and porcini mushrooms, and the gnocchi alla Sorrentina. As it was my birthday they had made me a stunning chocolate cake with fresh strawberries, which topped off the meal beautifully.
For my meal last night I once again had the antipasto, of course, but this time the arancini were EVEN BETTER than last time, as they had saffron in, which is possibly my favourite ever ingredient. I had the calzone for main course, which was just delicious with lots of ham and mushroom filling and a beautifully doughy yet crisp crust. I went for the dessert of the day for pudding, completely forgetting my Lenten fast of no cakes/sweet yummy things, but it was completely worth it because my huuuuge slice of pear, almond and ricotta tart was from the top drawer; my sister only had a bite of the pastry crust and she was still talking about how incredible it was the next day!
Sofalino also has a very high quality wine list; the Primitivo 'il Pumo' is a personal favourite of ours, with its dark, smooth, plummy intense flavour.
On both of these occasions the restaurant was full and buzzing, and the staff friendly and attentive; exactly what you want from an Italian restaurant.
Without a doubt I shall be back sooner rather than later.
As a local Italian serving fresh pizza and pasta, I cannot rate this place highly enough. Friendly service, nice portions and reasonable prices. Totally recommend.
Fantastic customer service, delicious food and tasty wine. Prawns in garlic butter were tender and fresh, chicken liver pâté was light and full of flavour and cured meat platter had nice selection of meats. Primitivo red wine was fruity with a very slight sweet aftertaste and their house white refreshing and easy to drink. Tiramisu and polenta lemon cake were also delicious. If I want to fault only one thing , I would say fried calamaris were a bit chewy and rubbery however, not greasy which is really good.They offered us amaretto on the house which is really a nice gesture from the restaurant.
The service here is great, the staff are attentive. A wide variety of Italian dishes. Some dishes could do with some more flavours such as the Gnocchi to make it feel more authentic but on the whole a nice comfortable place with a good standard of food.
The Service was great. Food delicious. A little gem on the high street Great, authentic Italian food in a smaller and less overbearing location than some local peers
My first time visiting Sofalino with friends. Beautiful food, wonderful friendly atmosphere, fantastic service. Try the Meloncello and I highly recommend the prawn linguine 💗
Stunning, I will be coming back!
Fantastic gem of an Italian restaurant. So lucky to have a restaurant of this calibre in Whetstone!
Despite living in the area, this was our first time to sofalino. We have been missing out!!!! Absolutely delicious food, friendly atmosphere and wonderful staff. We had such a fantastic experience and can't wait to go back!! They also serve melonchello which made my night :)
Great pizzas, even better pasta. Try the Wild Boar pappadelle if you want a real treat
We regularly visit Sofalino to enjoy authentic Italian food, fantastic atmosphere and good service. The quality and the range of red and white Italian wines were excellent, something we always enjoy and look forward to in our next visit.
A nice airy atmosphere with good fresh Italian food.
There is a lot to choose from and we had a cold salad starter and some delicious pasta.
I was eating lunch with my sister, so it was nice to relax and catch up without any bustle and noise that you can get in busy places.
We will definitely go back.
Been several times, always great food and service. Very friendly staff.
I absolutely love this place its a beautiful little Italian! Same chef every day, food is always amazing, service is always 10/10, small menu, everything on it is so tasty. My favourite restaurant in the area.
Faultless food and service, authentic classy Italian food and not noisy as hard of hearing!
Had lunch here today with a large party of family. I honestly couldn’t fault it. Starter of giant prawns swimming in garlicky butter perfectly cooked, followed by calves liver medium rare which melted in the mouth. Lovely glass of red wine to accompany it and followed by a delicious pud .Everyone was happy with the food and the attentive but unobtrusive service. Highly recommended
We have a week off and just really fancied a long, slow Italian lunch. we could not have chosen better.
The food was exceptional, incredibly tasty, generous and beautifully presented and the service was wonderful.
We hadn't been before, but we will definitely be back and would recommend it to anyone without reservation.
Lovely and friendly stuff,very good pasta.
Pizza needs to be improved.
Excellent birthday meal at Sofalino. Always a nice experience eating here. Great service and all cooked fresh to order. My lamb was delicious.
Very tasty food and very friendly staff
A very pleasant local Italian restaurant. I had a risotto for a main course....it needed more flavour. Everyone seemed happy with their dishes and the service was very pleasant and helpful. Would go again.
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