L'Anima Cafe | London

Norfolk pork belly, sanguinaccio

Having always wanted to dine at the L’Anima restaurant but never made it, I was well excited when my friend told me of this newly opened L’Anima Café next to it. Well,  now we can afford this meal and go anytime we like rather than for a special occasion. Only a few months old, it has set to impress.

Very fresh seasonal vegetables decoration at the entrance

The entrance was decorated with seasonal colourful seasonal vegetables and a scooter. On the left was the bar and woodfired oven then straight ahead was the spacious dining space.

That's the open area where you can see your pizza baked in the stone woodfired oven

A very spacious cafe with lots of light

Raw fillet of tuna with celery and amalfi lemon dressing was very refreshing.

Sea salt-crusted baked bream was so well cooked, sweet and moist. Initiallu, I thought the disc below was some sort of special crispy bread but it was not. It was the salt baked crust that is NOT edible. Yes, the glutton me took a bite and it was salty as hell! At least that was a clear confirmation. 

The Norfolk pork belly with sanguinaccio pictured above (first picture) was so delicious. The skin was perfectly crisp, the pork itself was tender and moist, plated with so many other different textures and surprising flavours, every bite oozes a very special and unique taste. It was truely fabulous. It was a dish so good, I will return just for this. If you were wondering what sanguinaccio is, according to my research, it has to be the very interestingly flavoured dark coloured puree on the plate. The ingredients include chocolate, pine nuts, cinnamon and the all important blood sausage. 

** Here is a very well explained blog post about sanguinaccio. 

Pannacotta with blueberries and grappa was soft and wobbly, perfectly set the way it should be. There were proper enough amount of grappa for a proper hit.

Mascarpone cheesecake and berries was as good as it looks

Right at the end of the cafe is where the deli is. See all the hanging meat, you can have some of those or sit down to have some coffee. It has a very friendly and relax atmosphere. 

My dear friend who was going back to Japan for good picked this place for her last lunch in London. Having stuffed her face with all the good food in London before leaving, I thought she made a very good choice. We were well happy and left with a round belly and big fat smile all the way home.

Smile..

Excellent rustic southern Italian food with bold flavours. Service was prompt and friendly, ambience was calm on a late weekday afternoon after the peak hours.

Frown..

What is there to frown about when it was all so good?..

Will I return?

Yes of course. Pork belly again and something else. Maybe tiramisu for dessert next time so I can do my tiramisu rating.

L'Anima Cafe

10 Appold Street
EC2A 2AP London,UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7422 7080