Manteca; Shoreditch, London

a dinner full of some highs but more lows

I’ve been struck again by the curse of a TikTok recommendation. Manteca had been on my list for ages because I have genuinely been seeing it EVERYWHERE. My algorithm is sneakily designed to encourage me to spend as much money as possible in this city, and Manteca had popped up so many times that I was convinced ads were being planted without my knowledge.

It’s an Italian small-plate restaurant that prides itself on being nose-to-tail. That means they utilize all parts of the animal in all of their dishes, a worthy and noble concept that is much needed in this time of overconsumption and food waste.

So, we trekked out East to Shoreditch in hopes of finally finding a small-plate restaurant that hit the spot.

On first look, the restaurant was large and buzzy- with tables filling up despite the early service time. We love an early dinner due to our early morning starts at our own restaurants, so anytime Anna and I go for our weekly dinners, we try to make it a late lunch or an early dinner.

We sat near the open kitchen, where a row of five men stood getting ready for service. As a woman and person of color in the industry, I always notice the demographics of the restaurant team. Not necessarily in a judgemental way but I think it’s something I inevitably notice on a subconscious level. So, all men- but could also mean nothing. There are days when the rota lands that way- it occurs in my restaurant all the time even though we have relative parity.

Regardless, the front of house was exceedingly nice, if not a little eager to get our table turned over. I could hardly blame them but it did seem a little bizarre for a 5:30 on a Tuesday evening- but, hey. They seemed busy.

On to the food!

We got:

fried olive, nocellara olive, sausage

In our heads, when we ordered this, we were expecting an actual fried olive stuffed with sausage. In reality, it was a mixture of chopped olives and sausage which was then deep-fried. A decent finger food but nothing special, especially for 3.5 per piece. It was missing something that I couldn't put my finger on. I think perhaps the sausage was so intensely savory that the olive additional actually dragged it down rather than lifting it up.

wild farmed focaccia, rosemary

The focaccia looked wildly impressive, and as someone who’s been making a lot of bread, I had to applaud their crumb structure. Unfortunately, it ultimately lacked seasoning and arrived cold- resulting in a fairly unpleasant mouthfeel. It looked so fluffy but texturally felt quite gummy for some reason.

house-made ricotta, chilli, fennel pollen

This is the dish that everyone has been raving about on TikTok about how amazing it is. Fair play to them as it is house-made and VERY smooth. But it was tasteless! There was next to no salt in it, to the point where we had to ask for some salt on the side (a move I save for the very rare occasion). The fennel pollen felt like it was scattered on top because it sounds nice written on a menu and not for any real reason. A good sprinkle of Maldon salt helped it along but it was still a disappointment.

For our appetizers we got:

brussels, cured duck, pomegranate, hazelnut

venison battuta, raw venison, cured heart, cicoria, pangrattato

These two saved the show. Truly truly truly I felt like I was finally in the Manteca from three years ago that everyone seems to remember. The brussell sprout salad is exactly what I want from a salad at a place like this. Funky, fresh, and so unique- the cured duck was a delight and the bursts of acid and sweetness from the pomegranate were otherworldly. Yes yes yes yes yes.

But more than that, the TARTARE!!!!!!! WOW. I love a good tartare, and this one was GOOD. The meat tasted so fresh and had such a nice mouthfeel. It melted as you ate it. The dressing was wonderful, with the mustard beautifully coating the palette and the pops of brininess from the capers washing it away. The chicory added a slight bitterness which really rounded out the whole thing. A true example of the word balanced.

‘nduja steamed mussels, cream, parsley

I am a big mussels fan- mostly because of how light and fresh they feel. I could eat bowls and bowls of buttery broth and succulent morsels of meat. Nestled in their shells, I love digging them out, soaking them in the broth, and popping them in my mouth.

These mussels were spicy due to the ‘nduja, a flavor I really appreciated. It felt different and fun. However, the broth let it down with it being mostly cream with no acid to help lift it up. A squeeze of lemon at the end would have done wonders, but it ultimately felt flat and sickly after a few bites which was really a letdown.

For our mains we got:

lumache, kale sauce, chilli

I don’t have much to say about this pasta because it didn’t really give much. If I ate it with my eyes closed, I would think I was just eating a lemon butter pasta with some parmesan on top. Perfectly tasty but not anything I’d order at a restaurant. Perhaps the bright green color deceives people’s palettes? I’m not sure but I was baffled at the rave reviews I’ve heard about this one.

chitarra verde, preserved wild garlic, parmesan, egg yolk

This was much much better in terms of taste and consistency. The wild garlic was super evident throughout the entire dish and the egg yolk allowed for a lovely creamy consistency that felt really nice as you ate it. In a switch of events, it was very well-seasoned, perhaps even a touch too much. If I hadn’t been sharing this, I think by the last few bites I would have felt like there was a bit of a salt overload. Very delicious though.

We unfortunately did not order any dessert. I think it was a combination of the mostly underwhelming food and the high amount of carbs that had us feeling a little out of sorts by the end of the meal. The restaurant was also really picking up and we could feel the anxiety emanating from the front of the house about turning tables over. I particularly felt this when our venison was picked up with a bite still left on the plate. My fork lingered unhappily in search of it for a few minutes afterward- a true tragedy.

Our total bill came out to 94 pounds without drinks or dessert- which was perhaps the final nail in the coffin.

It had glimpses of greatness throughout the meal, but whether it’s the high turnover, the social media hype, or the decline in quality control, I’m afraid to say that Manteca failed to impress.

Final rating: 6/10

Lots of love,

Laila xx