Established Milanese restaurant chain Panino Giusto are venturing into the UK market for the first time with a new venue at the Royal Exchange, which opened just last week – last night I popped along to see what all the fuss was about…
With fifteen outlets in Milan itself, and another seven elsewhere in Italy, these guys definitely know what Italians want when it comes to sandwiches. Their culinary maestro, the colourful Alessandro Borghese, took us a little tour of the range of ‘panino’ served in their ground floor space and which, in a very Italian twist, were each paired with a particular wine…
The panino served at Panino Giusto use the highest-quality Italian ingredients, most of which are produced in-house for exclusive use in their restaurants. The company makes its own Parma Ham, Prague Smoked Ham and Bologna sausage (which they flavour with pistachio) for example, and they even go so far as to carry own-brand olive oils and pates. Wines offered in the restaurant (most available by the glass) are also sourced from small, specially selected Italian vineyards rather than the large national producers.
To give you an example of what you’re likely to see on your plate if you pop along for lunch, my favourite of the panino that we sampled was something they call the ‘Tartufo’ – parma ham topped with brie and smothered in truffle oil. Other choices include the ‘Giusto’ (their signature sandwich with praga ham, mozzarella, anchovy and tomato with a generous serving of mustard) and ‘Country’ (bresaola, goat’s cheese, lemon, extra-virgin olive oil and pepper). Non meat-eaters aren’t left out either, with panino containing ingredients such as courgettes and green olive pate. Of the several wines that we tried, the most interesting was the 2006 ‘King Arthur’ from a small winery in Lombardy – a fantastic meaty red.
One can imagine that the counter upstairs gets very busy at lunchtime, but if you want a bit more intimacy there’s also a restaurant downstairs. As well as the sandwiches you can also sample a more substantial Italian menu which includes a full range of starters, meat and salad-based main courses and, of course, decadent desserts – words almost fail me when describing their tiramisu, which is made daily on the premises – it’s beyond spectacular.Their espresso is rather fun too – it comes served with a miniature vanilla and chocolate filled ice-cream cornet on the side, ‘Il Giustino’.
I can certainly vouch for the fact that the quality of the ingredients that they use at Panino Giusto are absolutely top-notch – I’m no food snob but I do know good ingredients from the merely average. For example their thinly-sliced fassona beef, sourced from the Piedmont region, is a revelation – succulent, melt-in-the-mouth stuff that puts most British beef to shame.
There’s a caveat to all of this of course – with the top-notch food and service comes an absolutely top-notch price. The panino at Panino Giusto are between £4.80 and £7.80 each for the meat and veggie options, rising to £11 to £14 for their tuna, swordfish and salmon sandwiches. They’re not large either – for someone with an average appetite you’ll probably need two, which will see your lunch come in at anywhere between £9.60 and £28, not including drinks. I’m not surprised that their first UK venture is in the Royal Exchange next to Bank station, as its one of the few areas where diners won’t baulk at these prices. What can I say – if you’re a real gourmand who has plenty of cash in your pocket then you’re going to absolutely adore this little slice of Italy transported to London. For the rest of us there’s always that branch of Tesco’s down the street, sandwiches made on an industrial estate somewhere in Colchester. Depressing!