Fratelli La Bufala

Fratelli La Bufala is an Italian franchising company of high quality pizza and Southern Italy dishes. In UK has got three restaurants, two in London and one in Bournemouth, but given the great popularity of the places and the fact that all three of them are always packed up with Italian and locals, I think that soon we will have more restaurants where to whet our appetite of good food made with high quality ingredients. On my last visit with friends we had a fabulous selection of dishes, it has been quite difficult to choose among all the mouth watering offerings.

This salad is called "Antiage" and honestly it is packed with healthy ingredients like grilled aubergines and courgettes, mashed potatoes, cherry tomatoes, mixed salad leaves, red onions from Tropea and yogurt. There are only 230 calories, it tastes delicious and perfect for somebody on a diet who wants to go out and enjoy a dinner with friends without feeling left out.

These representation of the Italian flag is the " Caprese" salad, a traditional recipe born in the beautiful Capri island. Buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of oregano and basil. This is the perfect dish during the warm months of the year of when you want to pretend to be on holiday on a sunny beach in Italy. Fratelli La Bufala receives the delivery of the mozzarella three times a week from Italy, from the Campania region.

This salad is the " Energizzante" with grilled chicken breast and buffalo cheese kebabs served on a bed of mixed salad, cherry tomatoes, a boiled egg, tuna chunks, basil  and flakes of Parmesan cheese. What can I say, this dish has got all the vitamins and proteins covered for the day and 420 calories.

Just to prepare our stomachs for later we've ordered a tomato soup and it came delicious with a dollop of cream. The taste was real tomato, this was a soup made from scratch, not out of a tin. We had a few spoonfuls each, it was too good to resist.

I've never tasted buffalo meat and it was delicious. Ordering the steak, it arrived with chips, grilled cherry tomatoes and a sun dried tomatoes pate. Buffalo meat comes directly from Italy and it is very good from a healthy point of view, packed with iron, very low fat and cholesterol content and only 130 calories per 100 grams which is exactly half of the calories a beef steak has, but it is filling all the same.

This platter has got a selection of  grilled meat from buffalo, beef and pork with a traditional sausage from Naples, long and thinner than the usual Italian sausage. It is a perfect dish to share with others so everyone can sample something different. It is served with chips, grilled tomatoes and barbecue sauce.

We could not go to a Neapolitan restaurant and miss the pizza. When you enter Fratelli La Bufala at 40 Shaftesbury Avenue W1D 7ER Piccadilly London  you are greeted by a wood operated oven with pizzaiolis making dough and baking all kind of pizza. We went for the Margherita one, simples but the one you can understand if pizza is good because it is not covered in ingredients and it was out of this world. You could detect real tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and the basil. The dough was perfect, soft just right because in Naples, pizza is not crispy.

The " Capricciosa" was amazing, with a beautiful artichoke heart in the centre that looked like a flower,  mushrooms, mozzarella and cooked ham. We had a slice each just to keep a bit of space for the dessert. What a meal, going in a group it has been possible to taste a bit of everything. Fratelli La Bufala serves Aperitivo as well, something typical Italian where you pay for a drink and you can eat finger food. The price is great, less then 10 pounds depending of what you drink and it is the perfect stop before a theatre show given that it is served from 5.30 to 8.

We could not leave without having Cannoli Siciliani. The mini version of this traditional dessert has got the perfect size after a generous meal like the one we had but we still want something sweet to end the dinner. The ricotta cheese that fills the pastry was yummy, like the one I had in Mondello a couple of years ago. If you are a sweet toothed person, Fratelli La Bufala makes a selection of dessert plate with cannolini, baba with rum, cheesecake made with buffalo milk (delicious) and other desserts they might have on the day. Given that they use all seasonal ingredients, depending on what they find in the market, it will be on the menu. Visit them in London in Piccadilly or at 35-37 Villiers Street, Charing Cross London WC2N 6ND or in Bournemouth 100 Poole Road BH4 9EF and check the menu at www.fratellilabufala.eu