Giaconda Dining Rooms

Beef Carpaccio

Crisp Pig Trotters

Cod, Black & White Cabbage, Sauteed Potatoes with a Butter & Chive Sauce

Pear, Quince & Apple Crumble with Clove Ice Cream

Howdy! Hungry Female is resurrected. After a long silence, I can no longer hold my opinions in! 2010 has started with a real foodie explosion: I've already had the pleasure of so many havens (London's Supperclub, Akari, Istanbul's Asitane & Mikla), I'm just hoping I can keep up this pace.

So my new year post is dedicated to Giaconda which I've been dying to try for ages. The rumours are true: it's in a slightly dingy room in Soho, instantly I'm kinda put off by the blue, velour-ish carpeted floor. Who still has blue carpeted flooring?! It's still very elegantly arranged, there can't be more than 20 tables. There is an instantly bacon-y air, though not off-putting, transpires it's due to the offal-heavy menu.

Which leads to the food. After being indecisive about liver mousses, braised tripe, sauteed kidneys, I settled for the Beef Carpaccio. With parmesan and a still unknown white sauce, it's a classic carpaccio which disappears on the palate. The Boyfriend's starter is more interesting - Crisp Pig Trotters on Eggs has a beautiful crunchy crisp outside and a deep porky melty inside.

Looking back on the meal, I should have been more adventurous. Main courses were well-cooked, but I had massive food envy looking at the other dishes coming out from the kitchen. It's clear one needs to embrace the animal and try the tripes and kidneys. Instead we played safe with the Battered Gurnard & Chips (basically fancy fish & chips) and one of the specials, Cod with Black & White Cabbage. I can't fault either of these dishes, only my own choices. Both fishes was fresh, soft and quite moorish.

We did redeem ourselves with the dessert: A triple fruit crumble of Pear, Quince and Apple with a fab clove ice cream. Although rather clover-some, it was one of the best ice creams translated from a spice.

Next time I return to Giaconda, I will be more adventurous and try some innards. All-in-all it was a lively little place, very attentive service and for circa £35 a head (we shared a dessert and had a lovely Riesling too), it's definitely a notable venue.