Reviews Artusi

Peckham's association with Only Fools and Horses is long gone. These days you're more likely to find a beardy hipster sipping on a Negroni instead of Del Boy knocking back a Pina Colada. A clutch of enticing restaurants and bars has emerged, several of which have made it onto various "best in London" lists. Artusi is one such place, oozing minimalist chic in both its decor and its Italian-inspired menu. The menu is just a handful of dishes on a chalkboard yet it's attention-grabbing nonetheless. It changes on a regular basis but you're likely to find risque treats like pigs head and ox heart alongside more vanilla pasta options.

This is boutique dining done right! Artusi doesn't have a set menu but rather puts their menu on a large black board, and you pick your meal from there.

I began with a G&T infused with elderflower which was really delightful and refreshing. We had their tongue appetizer and despite being a tongue was actually delicious! For my main I had their duck dish and for dessert we split an olive oil cake which tastes lemony.. Truly, the meal was spectacular! The presentation of the dishes was also tres lovely!

Make sure to make a reservation! Perfect for a date or an intimate dinner with close friends!

Going back for sure!!

The puree was almost grits texture or soft polenta, rich and creamy and the chestnuts on top added sweetness to the right level.

We were heading to Peckham for a friends birthday bash and did read about Artusi online, so we decided to give it a try. We arrived just before 7 and were lucky to get a table.

Jack Beer is a chef with a canny knack of picking the city's very hottest restaurants to work in. With a good stretch of time in the Clove Club under his belt, he next moved on to local favourite Peckham Bazaar, helping out in that tricky period of time where all the good reviews were flooding in and they needed a few more hands on deck.

Now he's in charge of his own fortunes at Artusi, an attractive little spot on Bellenden Road. The incredibly keenly-priced menu (no starters over £5, mains £13/£14) reads like a dream - I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't want to scoff down something called "skate with asparagus and wild garlic" or "roasted artichokes with bagna cauda"? Certainly nobody I know. It's the details that matter in a place like this. House bread is sourdough from Brickhouse, just round the corner, and as anyone from these parts will already know, it's very nearly the best money can buy. I say 'nearly' because it's only thanks to those guys from Hedone and their annoying habit of making the very best bread in the entire world that everyone else has been pushed into second place, but this is still extremely good bread.

The first proper dishes to arrive were, and I know I'm prone to hyperbole but I stand by this assessment, faultless. Mortadella with fried crescentine paired the softest, most glorious ham with pillows of top-notch crispbread. Seared ox heart had a great texture, not too chewy but with enough bite to remind you what it once had been, and a punchy caper and olive dressing gave it all a bit of colour, literally and metaphorically. And wow, the roast artichokes. Each of these, golden brown and topped with flakes of salt and parsley, would have been impressive enough on their own. But they rested on a sauce so complex and beguiling - the tang of the sea, rich notes of dairy - that I'm not sure anything better has ever been done to an anchovy. I only hope chef Beer has no plans to remove these from the chalkboard at Artusi until the artichoke season is well and truly over, as they really are quite something.

Next to the starters, and in particular the artichokes and that anchovy sauce, some of the world's finest food would have compared badly. But there were more than just a few things wrong with the pasta dishes, not least of which the fact my friend's £10.50 portion appeared no different in size at all to my own £6. They even both came in the same size bowl.

In addition to that, her linguine was al-dente bordering on crunchy, and the clams and mussels looked a bit odd in there without their shells. This is a minor presentation point perhaps, and could be just a personal thing, but I never like the look of mussels outside their shells. They look like little orange eyeballs.

My braised lamb shoulder was incredibly salty, and given how battered my palate is after all these years of salty food, believe me this means it was very salty indeed. A shame, because you could tell that underneath all the seasoning the meat was lovely and soft and had a great flavour, and the pasta was, in contrast to the linguine, perfectly done.

Service was generally very good, but committed the cardinal sin of asking me to taste the wine that my female friend had ordered. Not very 2014. Also, although I'm not as anti-natural wine as some, the house prosecco had all the worst/best features of this controversial process, being simultaneously funky, cloudy and almost completely flat. Bit of an odd choice for the house pour.

But here's the thing - I really enjoyed my meal. Blips with service, the wine list and the preparation of pasta can easily be rectified - what you can't fake is the kind of personality, passion and style that, despite fairly obvious errors here and there, left us feeling we'd still eagerly return. A £30 a head bill, with service left up to us, merely reinforced this feeling.

Lovely place. Been wanting to go for a long while and it didn’t disappoint. The service was quick and attentive. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was lovely. Would recommend. 10/10

Great food, with generous portions and plenty of flavour. The meatball with red cabbage was particularly delicious.

Beautiful small restaurant with wonderful food. Very good and friendly stuff. I really enjoyed the place. They changed the menu every week. So you can try very different and delicious meals. Wonderful place if you want some coffee with a dessert, lunch or dinner.

Spectacular! We’ve heard so much about this restaurant and I didn’t think it could reach the peak of my expectations, but it surely did. Food was perfectly cooked, paired and flavoured. Seasoning was on point, and great portion sizes. Staff and atmosphere was perfection. We’ll definitely be returning!!! The hispi cabbage was outstanding

A friend local to the area recommended and it was absolutely delicious food and wine!!! I particularly enjoyed the pickled vegetables, pasta dish, salads, and my partner enjoyed lamb dish. The menu changes every so often, totally forgot to take a picture of the menu board...next time!

Quality, ingenuity (so far as I’m aware menu changes daily), price and service - all great. Just a little out of the way and nothing to wow at regarding decor, but as soon as that first bite hits your pallet, you won’t really be bothered.

Superbly amazing Mediterranean varied delights on the menu. Attentive, charming staff. Well worth checking out - we managed to sneak in without a booking.......but making a booking is highly recommended.

Great small, local independent Italian restaurant. Short menu but creative and interesting. Friendly service too.

Good value Sunday lunch menu. Although, we actually didn’t have the original menu as they had run out of every dish on the set menu and seemed to have improvised, but it still tasted decent