Penny Squares, a classy Italian restaurant, opened recently on the ground floor of Canopy by Hilton London City, a luxurious lifestyle hotel near Aldgate station.
My experience at Penny Squares was impressive from start to finish. The atmosphere was laidback yet sophisticated and the food was top quality, most notably a delicious seafood pasta dish utilising a type of pasta I had never even heard of.
Our visit began with two top-notch starters, both incorporating delicious winter ingredients and being served with a rather festive blizzard of parmesan shaved on top.
I had the roasted mozzarella and pumpkin arancini which was beautifully crispy on the outside and light, fluffy and flavourful on the inside.
Often arancini can be too dense and stodgy but that certainly wasn’t the case here.
The pumpkin arancini and the roasted winter vegetables were delicious seasonal starters (Image: Gianni Cirillo) My mum ordered the roasted winter vegetables which was equally delicious, showcasing the seasonal winter ingredients perfectly.
We didn’t expect the vegetables to be served cold, however it proved a delightfully fresh and fragrant way to whet the palette.
We both opted for pasta dishes as our main courses: roasted pumpkin and gorgonzola mezzi rigatoni for my mum, and the seafood creste di gallo for myself.
Coming from an Italian background, I was impressed to stumble across a pasta type that I had never heard of, but I was even more impressed with its utilisation.
Creste di gallo translates to ‘crest of the rooster’, due to the unique shape of the pasta. It was a dense pasta but perfect for the dish that it was used in. It soaked up a wonderful seafood sauce compromising simply of parsley, tomato and a hint of chilli.
The creste di gallo pasta was dense but the perfect choice of pasta for that dish (Image: Gianni Cirillo) Usually it is far too easy to detect defrosted seafood which is unfortunately rather common in non-seaside restaurants, however the seafood in this dish was far above par for its kind in central London.
Squid rings, prawns and baby squid were all fresh and flavourful and thankfully there was not a frozen component in sight.
My mum’s rigatoni was also very tasty, however the flavour profile of gorgonzola wouldn’t be my choice.
But it was a rich and comforting dish.
Our meal concluded with a substantial portion of tiramisu – easily enough to share between the two of us.
The tiramisu gave my Nonna’s recipe a run for its money (Image: Gianni Cirillo) The tiramisu was balanced wonderfully which, believe me, is not easily done. The blend of espresso, cream, alcohol and cocoa was faultless and dare I say gave my Nonna’s recipe a run for its money.
Ultimately, Penny Squares gave us a delightful three course meal which brought a fresh spin to Italian dining, blending classic flavours with a cool east London vibe.
Don’t let its cosy and potentially secretive-seeming location within the hotel deceive you – this is a hidden gem which I would recommend to anyone in search of a top quality Italian meal.