Review: Latteria in Essex Road – the perfect place to enjoy a leisurely Italian meal

“Everything made in-house with ingredients sourced from Italy” – eight words everyone longs to hear. And Latteria, a welcome new addition to Essex Road, is tricolore through and through.

Owned by veteran restauranteur Giuliona Lotto, this laid back all-day café comes from solid stock, and it shows.

The tables outside were being enjoyed by sun-seeking al fresco diners as we arrived, but we opted for the shade of indoors, where we could properly admire the cool white and red theme.

One sip into the deliciously fruity peach Bellini made me think this should be the start of more Friday nights.

My boyfriend went for a Moretti, the only beer on offer. Although there were no grumbles from him, it might be nice to expand the range, especially as I noted there was just one white, one red and one rosé available by the glass.

But we were here for the food and we were very happy customers.

I'm sure our glee was obvious when the generous starter of burrata and daterrino tomatoes was presented to us. Served with a sprinkling of black pepper and crunchy flatbread, the creamy cheese oozed onto some of the best tomatoes I've ever tasted.

Our mains somehow upped the ante.

My aubergine parmigiana was the perfect portion - not too much that you felt stuffed, and not too little to leave you feeling short-changed. The noticeably fresh ingredients meant I savoured every mouthful. The beef tagliatelle al ragu proved a similar hit.

We jumped at the chance of a little break ahead of dessert as we gluttonously assessed the options.

Inspired by the table next to us, we eventually settled upon ice cream - yoghurt and strawberry sorbet for me, pistachio and milk for him. Our sweet tooth's were very happily satisfied.

With reasonable prices and an equally easy on the eye brunch menu, Latteria is the just the place to enjoy a leisurely Italian.