Happy Birthday @ Zucca

Ric and I celebrated his 3rd decade at a new Italian restaurant called Zucca last night. It's in Bermondsey, which is about a 10 minute walk from the London Bridge tube stop. I read a review of the place on food blog, The London Eater. It got a great write up and the pictures looked amazing... So we thought we'd give it a try. Plus, it fit nicely in with my themed birthday for Ric - wine glasses, an Italian wine tasting evening at Berry Bros, and dinner at an Italian restaurant!



We started off with sea bream carpaccio and San Daniele with figs. Well, actually, we started off with a glass of Proseco and then jumped into the appetizers... Both were simply amazing. Not too fussy, very simple dishes, but the balance of flavors was perfect. And they looked pretty too!



We then went onto a pasta course, both ordering the Rigatoni with courgette (zucchini) and ricotta. The cheese was as light as air, and the pasta had obviously been made fresh. There wasn't a "sauce" per say, and neither one of us could figure out where the wonderful flavors were coming from. Again, it seemed so simple, but there was a lot more going on than you'd imagine at first glance.



After the past, in true Italian style, we moved onto the main course - rabbit for Ric and a veal chop for me. At this point in the dinner we were so consumed by the meal that we totally forgot to take pictures. The London Eater blog I mentioned has a nice one of the veal, though, if you're curious.

Since it was a celebration, we couldn't stop without dessert. I went the healthy route (to balance out the three courses I just ate) and got fresh fruit. Ric went more decadent and had a blackberry tarte. Both of which were great. The Vin Santo dessert wine didn't hurt either!



All in all, it was a truly memorable meal, and the total bill was much less than we've paid before, for much more mediocre food. We'll definitely be going back!