Noci Islington — Restaurant in London

5 star service. The day I came 3.5 star food. The House Focaccia was beautifully fresh, lovely springed texture. The sun dried Datterini tomato slice I had only had one Tiny tomato, this was disappointing as the flavour bomb you got with it was out of this world- but due to the lack the of them I was left longing for decadent Datterini tomatoes running trough the bread. The red onion focaccia was overly salted and the red onions didn’t have enough flavour.

I ordered the Burrata, with rainbow chard, which is supposed to have a garlic, lemon, chilli melody running through the dish. The chard was very wet and with no lemon flavour running through the dish, it was unfortunately very bland to eat. This was a massive shame as the Burrata was perfectly fresh. I was surprised the garlic chilli and lemon wasn’t cook with the chard. (But this is how I personally would have preferred it.)

The pasta dish I ordered was Violet artichoke tagliatelle, mixed herb & lemon… this dish easily made up for the previous imbalances. The herb and artichoke flavours brought a spring time mouth feel, that, really sold the wonderful bite you can only get from fresh pasta! I still think it could have popped with some fresh lemon zest, but that is probably just my taste. Come here just for the main event alone folks (the pasta)!

Having experienced this mixed bag, I will be back the menu is very enticing, and had I not felt full, I was easily going to order another pasta dish.

They also do an amazing £14 lunch deal that gives you Focaccia and a choice between 4 of the pasta dishes.

Concluding thought: please do come, the staff and layout is very nice and there was a buzzing energy when I visited- but don’t expect as amazing flavours that you get from the brilliant pastas in the other food choices on the menu. (DISCLOSURE Again this is from one visit from a small selection of dishes, I’m sure this would be different if I was frequently...

UPDATE: I had emailed them with the feedback below. Whilst I still will not personally return at this location, I was quite pleased by the response from the general manager who provided a fair compensation for the pain & frustration caused to my guests.

Nov-24 I have come here several times & whilst the pasta is lovely I will not be coming back after my last experience, and have reduced my rating from a 4 to 2 star because I was absolutely appalled by the calibre & service. I hosted a function with approx. 35 people at Noci the other night & several things I was not pleased about. Firstly each dish was a shared plate, however it was not distributed evenly and some tables complained that they did not receive sufficient food. When the waiters then brought out the 'missing' dishes, they had the audacity to try and charge for the extra plates. And insisted that we pay (we didn't in the end but it took some time for us to make our case & I was incredibly frustrated).

Secondly, we had about 5 ppl with dietaries/allergies and I was shocked for a few reasons 1) the dietaries were not taken with serious care, there were nuts / red meat / dairy served to the individuals that had specifically asked not to have these (and some of these could have been fatal. 2) they expected that the dishes with dietaries were to be shared, which I was appalled by and 3) when we had told this to the waiter numerous times, nothing was done about it.

Overall I'm incredibly shocked by how rude and unaccommodating the staff were, and also how they did not take any dietaries into consideration. Unfortunately the overall experience was ruined & I will not be...

10/10 experience! The food, wine, atmosphere and especially the hospitality and service. Top 3 dining experience of 2022 + new favourite restaurant in London. Went with my Italian friend and I assure you everything was truly superb! Thank you Noci for introducing me to Barbera Piemonte 🍷, adding to my list of go-to reds. For starters we had the house focaccia, which was 👌🏾 and the Nduja Arancini; the pecorino Parmesan sauce so delicious. From Pasta we had the brown butter cacio e pepe just perfect and the handmade pasta was perfect! We also had the crab and ricotta ravioli! The courgette sauce was just WOW! For dessert we had the miso panacotta. The passionfruit on top just perfect. Also had the Gianduja Budino, if you like hazelnut/nutella and crème brûlée this is the dessert for you! Our waiter Greta was just the most lovely person and checked on us often and made such a great experience. She gave us a Limoncello digestsif on the house and that just was the cherry on the top! The owner/ Manager Giorgio was so welcoming and stopped by to speak with us and my Italian friend! No only did we get one desserts of the house. After learning of my love of swiss monk head cheese, which I saw being served at another table, brought it over and gave both I and my friend a generous serving! I wish Giorgio and all the Noci staff the best because I left full, satisfied and in bliss by the great culinary experience and service I had experienced! I highly recommend! I will definitely be back to try the rest of the menu and to support Noci! Ciao Giorgio + Greta and...