LDNReview
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Radici
This spot is Permanently Closed.
Included In
Plasters. A decent corkscrew. Matches. These are some of your essentials when it comes to being an adult. Spending money on these things might feel like yet another welcome-to-being-a-grown-up-tax. But the second you accidentally cut your hand open whilst taking on an avocado, or attempt to open a bottle of chablis with your shoe, or incite witchcraft to try and light a candle in a power cut, you realise just how important these things are. They might not be exactly what you want, but they’re what you need.
Radici is a big Italian restaurant in Islington that might not always be exactly what you want, but it’s definitely a restaurant that every grown-up in London needs. Head here for a weekday lunch or for dinner on a Friday night, and you’ll see people using this place in a whole bunch of different ways. As you walk in, you might see a mother and son making their way through a pork ragu fettuccine and a margherita pizza. On the long 14-person table near the open kitchen, a group of colleagues are finishing up their tiramisu and four bottles of wine. On the cream banquette seating at the back, a dressed-up couple in their 60s are working through some courgette flowers and a slab of pork belly, with the zucchini fritti on the table between them like the world’s most crispy and snackable bouquet. This is a restaurant you need in your back pocket.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Even with all of Radici’s big, open space, the circular tables that are perfect for groups, or the fact that the whole restaurant looks like someone picked up the set of Mamma Mia and dropped it off in Islington for safe keeping, this place wouldn’t be so useful if the food was terrible. But it isn’t. We’re only slightly exaggerating when we say that their taglierini - thin stringy pasta that comes in a thick, spicy stew, full of beans and pancetta - is the cure for the common cold. And sadness. And the fact your own mother forgot your birthday last year. Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating a lot, but the taglierini is great and memorable in a way that having a slap-bang carbonara turn up to your table wouldn’t be. Even if some of the things here, like the white sausage pizza, are on the Droopy-talking-about-petrol-prices spectrum of bland, there are enough good Italian classics here to ensure that you have a decent meal.
This place is so comfortable and inoffensive it might slip your mind, but then payday will feel a long way off and - lightbulb moment - Radici’s set menu options will sort you right out. Or maybe your sister will appear in London with the twins and you’ll find yourself getting a bit ‘this is Sparta’ on Upper Street over the lack of high chairs. Solution? Radici. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve had a terrible day and Radici’s panna cotta feels like a pretty good consolation prize for having to be a grown-up, especially when you remember it’s £6.50, which is basically just the price of a decent corkscrew.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Spicy Meatballs, Grana Padano Riserva
Courgette Flowers, Stuffed Ricotta, Amalfi Lemon
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Tortelli Smoked Burrata, Butter, Sage, Hazelnuts
Pork Ragu Fettuccine
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Taglierini, Fagioli, Pancetta
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Tagliolini Cacio E Pepe, Asparagi
Pork Belly, Sanguinaccio, Cime Di Rapa
Zucchini Fritti
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli