Bacaro is a Venetian word to describe a humble restaurant, serving simple food and young wines from northern Italy…..and this is the exact style that restaurant POLPO does.
POLPO offers a variety of small and perfectly formed dishes. Wine is drunk from small tumblers and their own label Garganega, Corvina and Prosecco in bottles labelled with the POLPO octopus, all of which I tried, is very good indeed.
It’s quite similar to the Spanish tapas way of eating. Order a few dishes, see how you go and reorder a few more if you need to. The dishes are picked from a menu broken up in to crostinis, breads, meat, fish, vegetable…..and of course deserts.
My feast consisted of Arancini (stuffed friend olives), Pizette, (small crispy pizza-like dishes) of which there are a few flavours to try from. I opted for mortadella, gorgonzola and pickled radicchio. From the meatball selection I had lamb and mint meatballs, which were just the right strength of flavour. Next I chose Crab and chilli linguine from the Fish selection and to be honest, my dining partner and I were pretty full by then. They may look like petite dishes, but a few of these tasty bites,which are rich and delicious, are surprisingly filling.
We did however force ourselves to try the tiramisu, which again did not look huge but was big on taste!
Sat at old wooden chemistry tables with antique lacework serviettes hanging from bulbs (a great alternative to light shades), white tiled walls and reclaimed timber floor, POLPO feels urban, rustic and reminiscent of scruffy wine bars in Venice. This and the busy but laid back feel, is just like being on holiday and you can’t go wrong with that!
POLPO Brighton 20 New Road Brighton
BN1 1UF