Lauren’s Birthday Lunch at Sorella, Clapham

Back in October last year I finally got to try the much acclaimed restaurant, The Dairy in Clapham. After an absolutely fantastic lunch there, I was keen to try sister restaurant, The Manor – unfortunately as is often the case in London, The Manor closed its doors and I never had the chance to eat there. Fortunately when one door shuts, another door opens and the restauranteurs behind the Dairy opened Sorella in its place.
Lauren kindly asked Mr S and I come and join her and her boyfriend for her birthday lunch at Sorella and I couldn’t wait to celebrate and also try the food at the newly opened restaurant. It’s actually the third time we’ve celebrated her birthday together, I can’t believe how time flies.

In terms of interior design, the bare walls give a rustic and casual feel – it’s pretty much your friendly local and the service has that feeling too. 
Sorella is a true celebration of an Italian neighbourhood restaurant with much of the cuisine being inspired by Chef Restauranteur Robin Gill’s time in the Amalfi Coast. Co-owner Dean Parker also honed his skills in Italian kitchens and the team put the idea of family as the central thought to their restaurants. The word Sorella even means sister. Lauren and I absolutely love small sharing plates so we went ahead and ordered some to start. Beginning with some excellent prosciutto…

And Jersey milk ricotta with black olive and parmesan, having been to Jersey, I know how creamy and rich the milk is and this cheese dish certainly didn’t disappoint. 
Chewy semolina sourdough came with olive oil and was the perfect accompaniment to our starters…we may have ordered two baskets of this …  
I don’t think you can really have a cicchetti spread without arancini and these truffled balls were utterly delicious.
Lauren and I were both taken by the crab linguine, fennel and chilli which was fresh and beautifully homemade. The portion is small but that’s a good thing, leaving room for plenty other courses.

With it being a Sunday, there was no way Mr S was having anything other than the rib of beef, which was cooked perfectly.   
And came with all the trimmings…

Andy was also very happy with his fish dish of ‘Lady Hamilton’ cod, squid ink and chard.

We were all very full, but what’s a birthday without dessert / cheese. 
We absolutely loved the tagleggio with pear and sunflower seed biscuits. 
But were less sure about the sweet – the Pump Street chocolate mousse was fabulous but none of us were big fans of the fennel gelato. 
There was one last treat for the birthday girl, kindly arranged and beautifully presented by Sorella.

Really the perfect birthday lunch!