Carnevale

Carnevale
135 Whitecross Street
EC1Y 8JL
Tel: 020 7250 3452

Date of Last Visit: Tuesday, October 15

The Victim: Feathers

The Damage: £25

The Background: I ate lunch earlier than normal yesterday because I had to be in three places at the same time. So come 6:30 p.m., I was STARVING. And I knew my refrigerator was empty at home. Enter Feathers, whose husband is somewhere in London at a poker tournament. She wants to know if I have any ideas.

The only place I haven't tried that's within Walking Distance is Carnevale on Whitecross Street. (Note that there is a strip of restaurants on City Road that I haven't dared to venture in in four years, and I have no desire to.) The only thing about Carnevale is that it's vegetarian. And I know Feathers likes bacon. But still, I convince her.

The Entrance: Carnevale is empty when we arrive, except for two guys in the back having coffee. By the time we leave around 9 p.m., it's filled up a bit. And I'm dying to know if everyone is a vegetarian.

The Starters: Quinoa with squash? I really should pay more attention to these things. It was fine, but it needed salt. Feathers got a goats cheese starter that was exactly that. A big round of goats cheese. That's a lot of goats cheese to eat.

The Mains: Ravioli stuffed with squash for me. With lots and lots of lentils. Almost too many lentils. Some sort of squash dish for Feathers with a big gob of something flaky and deep-fried in the middle. They lose points for presentation on her dish. Both our dishes needed salt.

The Service: Sweet but shy. Oh, and he's not a vegetarian either.

The Verdict: Eh. Not sure about this. I could have used some bacon.

Interesting: I've finally been upgraded to the new version of Typepad.

P.S. Don't forget…blog about Your Perfect Day in London by October 24th. I'll summarize all the blog posts for all to publish on their blogs as a traffic-building exercise…