Spuntino - Rupert St W1

Last night I checked out Spuntino, Soho restaurant du-jour and latest offering from Russell Norman of Polpo and Polpetto fame. I was dining with one of my favourite bloggers, Gourmet Chick and we also got a visit from the equally fab Greedy Diva. To cap off the London blogger presence, the LondonFoodie was also in attendance! So there I was, surrounded by the cream of London food bloggers, in the super funky surroundings of a buzzy, totally "of the moment" eatery, being served delicious morsels (more on that shortly) - I felt very content and very "London". I couldn't remember what had been in this space before Spuntino but apparently it was a Tandoori restaurant, with the associated decor - but underneath the false walls was amazing tile-work and mosaics, possibly from a butcher's shop (Gourmet Chick and I had speculated either that or a public toilet, but in a good way...). Anyway it looks amazing, particularly in combination with the pressed metal ceiling and low lighting. There is a no bookings policy and that, along with the buzz on this place made for quite a crowded and somewhat chaotic environment, with most people seated around a U-shaped bar and I did spend a large part of the night with an elbow shoved in my kidneys (I shall not name and shame you here semi-famous female journo, but you know who you are...). But in a way that all added to the fun of Spuntino - not somewhere for a quiet  dinner or even somewhere you can really manage with more than 2 or 3 people, but definitely somewhere to come with a fun drinking and eating buddy (thanks GC you filled both roles admirably) when you're in the mood for a rock 'n roll nosh-up. So - the food. This was posh comfort food, all done well and all with an element of fun and irreverence. We started with the complimentary paprika popcorn and moved swiftly through egg and soldiers (tasty) ground beef & marrow and lamb & pickled cucumber sliders - otherwise known as mini burgers (delicious) and a salad of beets, salted ricotta and pistachio (our attempt to introduce something vaguely healthy, this was nice but unremarkable). Having washed all this down with a carafe of rose and then two of red wine (hic), we prepared ourselves for the richest of our dishes - truffled egg toast. Man this was good, but seriously unhealthy! It's kinda hard to describe and I almost feel like it was slightly narcotic, because when I try to focus on what it looked like or tasted like, a voice in my head just starts saying "mmmm cheese" over and over again, so that probably tells you something...  Determined to also try the much lauded mac 'n cheese, we loosened our belts and managed to make it two thirds of the way through a creamy, savoury bowl of macaroni goodness, with some eggplant chips and fennel yogurt thrown in for good measure. And yes, we did have dessert - who could resist a Nutella pizzetta? Not us! It was sensational.  We had a lovely waiter called Ahmed (you can check him out on Gourmet Chick's review) - which is always a plus.  So my advice - get there early and I mean early people (we got there at 6.20pm and had to wait around 20 minutes for a seat) and definitely try the super trippy truffled egg toast.  (P.S. Thanks GC for the use of the photo!)