Pasta Box & Salad – Mangiare, Bell Lane, Spitafields

Now that weather has turned cooler, apart from craving for big tubs of hot soupy noodles, I find my body yearning for carb. A big plate of no holds barred, cradle your tummy after and nodding off at 3pm carb. And that’s exactly what I did today!

I have tried Mangiare back when I was working in the White City area. Still remembered their rich and creamy carbonara was a once a week treat for me. Stumbled upon their branch in Bell Lane while I was wondering around the Spitalfields area and wanted to check whether their carbonara is still as decadent as I remembered.

Apart from their daily special as you can see from the menu above, they also serve a selection of pizza slices, foccacia, calzone, soup and a small salad bar. This outlet is bigger than the one in White City and there are ample sitting space if you would like to eat in.

The pasta box comes in 2 sizes and the substantially bigger box is only 45p more which is what I went for. You can mix and match the pasta and I went for the Penne Carbonara and the Fettucine al Tonno. Thought a mix of a cream an another of tomato base is a good idea. Also got a small salad from the salad bar. Not a bad deal really, the big box of pasta cost £4.95 while it’s £1 off any salad box if you get a main meal which makes the salad £1.50. At a total of £6.45, it’s affordable especially for the volume.

The salad at £1.50 was a good value, I managed to cram in some cheery tomatoes with basil, a handful of tiny mozzarella balls, some broadbean salad, a couscous and chickpea salad and finally a sliced half boiled egg! So was the carbonara as yummy as I remembered? Unfortunately not, I recall the version at White City is richer with more cheese and definitely more slices of bacon. But it’s not too bad. The fettuccine was way overcooked but the sauce was very nice, tangy and fishy from the tuna used. A good dollop of Tabasco always help!

Mangiare
31 Bell Lane
Spitafields
London E1 7LA
0207 247 0809