Dinner at Bocca Di Lupo

A couple of weeks ago, my friend J sent round an email asking if we wanted to go for dinner at a new-ish restaurant she'd read about called Bocca Di Lupo.  A quick glance at the reviews convinced that we did indeed want to go....Italian-style tapas?  Sounded perfect.
 

There's a long bar at the front of the restaurant, with lots of yummy-sounding cocktails (J had a lemon meringue concoction with actual meringue in it, score).  The dining area itself isn't massive, but we were lucky to have a corner table so we weren't sitting on top of the other diners.  (Tip:  you do need to book well in advance, and tables are timed to two-hour slots.) 

We ordered a variety of small plates to start the meal - deep-fried courgette flowers with anchovy and mozzarella, clams and mussels with borlotti beans in a delicate broth, a plate of sweet summer peas and onion ("we have to have one healthy dish," J said as she ordered).  K was the bravest and went for the crispy-fried tripe. 

It came in golden-coated chunks with lots of parsley and fresh lemon to squeeze over - if you didn't think too hard about what you were eating, it was surprisingly tasty.

Then it was onto the main courses.  J had a beautiful bream that had been baked in salt, with a heap of green samphire on the side.

K went for grilled langoustines, and M had the suckling pig, which came with grapes that had been cooked on the stem.  I ordered the gnocchi with spicy sausage ragu. The tomato sauce was rich and thick, and the gnocchi were perfectly tender and flavoursome.  It was a bit on the heavy side, however, so if I were ordering again I'd probably choose it as a small plate and have a salad on the side.

We were too full for dessert, which is such a shame because this was on the menu:

-  Sanguinaccio - sweet pate of pig's blood & chocolate

Intriguing, no? 
Or we could have gone across the road to this place for ice-cream....mmm. 

It was a delicious meal, and we all agreed it would be a good choice for a first date: not too intimate, with a nice buzz from the bar, but still stylish and a bit different.  Some of the dishes are spendy, but if you pick small plates and mix them up you could have a lovely and varied meal.  Or take a cash-ready beau who wants to impress :)