Rotorino - Menu

On the unlikely looking, soon to be gentrified, stretch of Kingsland Road known as Haggerston, you’ll find a little diamond in the rough – Rotorino. Its menu offers up food inspired by southern Italian....

The menu is separated into first, second and third categories, we went for a couple of dishes from each. Thin crispy bread type things splashed with olive oil were presented while we perused the menu. Odd by themselves really but we ate them all. They're good snacks for drinks I guess, but they're not bread, I'm not fooled.

I wanted to go to rotorino as it opened first, but none of my food partners in the crime was enthusiastic. Maybe they had a point because it was a bit hit and miss. my companion was a bit glut and wanted to do it right – a primi, secondi and thirdi curs. plus dessert. I knew I wouldn't be able to manage so much, but was happy to try a bit of him on the way.

A diamond in the ‘no longer rough’ Dalston, Rotorino is made up of a large rectangular dining room that’s blue, brown and white all over, filled with wooden tables, black plastic chairs, a row of booths down one side and bright, loud patterns. I was right about the face; Stevie’s food is lovely. Inspired by gorgeous Italian food, the menu is split into First, Second and Third courses, foll

The menu is split into First small dishes, under cured, raw/cold, fried and grilled), Second pasta), and Third meat and fish dishes). From the first, we started with the octopus £4), grilled with the smoky fragrance of its rosemary sprig skewer, and really tender with the chilli and soaked bread sauce I’ve forgotten the rubbery over-cooked sort, with all the lovely silky/justthe right bite kind I have had recently).

this is the only place to eat Italian in dalston. the menu is relatiw small and constantly changing so that they can guarantee what they eat is made with the freshest ingredients and they will never get boring. excuse them the bad quality of my pictures, but was very dark on the table we were assigned. his kind of hard to find out what we ate, but I remember that the carpaccio of scallops were amazing how the meeres fruits were one-pot with a single piece pasta swimming in it. miso satisfied.

we drove to rotorino at the rande of the moment after we made a cocktail masterclass in the house of peroni on the road. after the cocktails we needed some food, and rotorino is the place to go when they are hungry, as it first offers a real Italian menu, second, third plus dessert. we did not go for the full to four cursor experience, but shared a second and a third between us. the portions are generous, so be warned! the food itself was flooded with taste. our healed makrel starter tasted fresh and tender. the gnocchetti was hearty and rich. the third cure was quite interesting a huge joint of the roast buns on the top of the toast. No...read more

As I was feeling brave, I decided to venture East into Dalston to Rotorino, a restaurant by head chef Stevie Parle who also owns The Dock Kitchen) and Jonathan Downey the chap behind Milk and Honey and partner of Street Feast). We were seated at the end of the bar which is saved for walk-ins) which provided a pleasant view of the packed and ever so beautiful restaurant. The only problem though was the lone barman, who struggled to make drinks and serve those eating; even though we were in spitting distance it was difficult to get his attention. Our two pastas came out super quick. The sausage gnochetti sardi £8) didn’t look particularly appetising, “it looks like maggots” said...read more

In a converted old bank on Kingsland Road, Dalston is Stevie Parle’s new East London restaurant. It’s only been open since mid-April but already seems to have developed quite a following. Stevie was the youngest ever chef at The River Café, writes for the Telegraph Food, has four cookbooks out which we love, was on TV in the Spice Trip and has launched Rotorino after success in West London at The Dock Kitchen. Rotorino has a relaxed feel – leather clad booths hug one wall of the restaurant, and there’s wood paneling from the old bank and retro 60′s tiles on the back wall. The staff are friendly and warm too and seem knowledgeable. The food is inspired by Southern Italy but also...read more