By now you should be well aware that Elldrew have a slight truffle fetish. We’ve previously blogged about our truffle adventures in Croatia and our Christmas truffle dining at The Savoy in London, so it would be naïve for us not to try London’s latest “And” venue (Prosecco and truffles bar), Trufflesecco.
The brainchild of two sisters who may have a passion for truffles even greater than Elldrew’s, this tiny pit stop in North West London’s Mornington Crescent focuses on (can you guess yet?) Prosecco and truffles. Or specifically; a lengthy Prosecco menu accompanied by a rather short truffles menu. That’s not a criticism; there’s only so many ways one can serve truffles and here it comes in the form of an Italian meat platter, Italian cheese platter, Burrata, a truffle pasta and a truffle risotto.
Elldrew started with a glass of the house Extra Dry Prosecco; it was very dry and very nice. It was reasonably priced (£5.50 glass/£28 bottle) and went down way too quickly. Accompanying our first glass we ordered the bread selection (with truffle oil, obvs!). The second glass was consumed over the Italian cheese platter, and then we moved onto a Pinot Grigio (they do serve drinks other than Prosecco) to accompany the truffle risotto.
Loving truffles we enjoyed everything we had, but it definitely felt like nibbles accompanying the Prosecco as opposed to a truffle dining experience. No problem with that, it does have bar in its name; we went after work and were in & out within an hour, which suited us just fine. The risotto was definitely the star dish; we forgot to ask where the truffles came from but they were generously dotted throughout with lovely big shavings on top. The sisters say they take their inspiration from a trip to Florence, Italy, so we have to assume they are using Italian truffles, we will ask next time. Drew noted that they were more pungent and “meaty” than the truffles we’d had elsewhere.
The cheese platter was lovely, but it was a cheese platter with hints of truffles coming from a couple of crostino and a small piece of truffle cheese. It came with a handful of Taralli, which we absolutely love ever since our week in Puglia, Italy: but it really needed crackers for all that cheese, especially when serving soft cheese. Luckily we had the bread basket. We tried the chocolate fondant for dessert; it was lovely and satisfied our chocolate craving. We regretted not trying the truffle pasta, if it were half as good as the risotto then it would have trumped the other dishes.
The restaurant itself is tiny; it’s dominated by a huge bar that is great for standing around drinking, less comfortable for eating if you get a seat at the bar as there is no knee room, but maybe that emphasises the focus on the ‘secco’ part of Trufflesecco? They’ve clearly spent a fair amount of money doing up the space in a modern, innovative and industrial way, they’ve even made space for a display case of truffle products for sale (Elldrew were tempted by the truffle crisps, but resisted!). It’s also in a rather peculiar location in Mornington Crescent, next to a kebab shop and opposite Koko nightclub. We really thought it would be better suited to the slightly more upmarket end of Camden or, better, Belsize Park or Kentish Town, where there are more diners looking for an experience vs transient market shoppers or the club warm-up crew that we suspect the location attracts. But, hey, maybe we’re being biased because we’d likely be regulars if it were a bit closer to home (saying that, when did a 10 minute cab ride become too far from home?).
That final statement sums it up really – we will be back; it wasn’t perfect but it’s new and the owners are young so there’s room for improvement… but there’s also loads they’re doing right. It wasn’t cheap, possibly slightly overpriced based on food portions, but for Prosecco and truffles we felt that it was very reasonably priced. Nice vibe, happy engaging staff with a hit of truffle as soon as you step into the bar, it makes all feel right in the world. What a brilliant concept! We wish them the very best of luck and hope that it’s successful enough that they can open a branch further up the hill, closer to Elldrew!
11 Camden High Street, London NW1 7JE
T: 0203 417 9889