From the people who brought you 40 Dean Street comes a new but very similar Italian eatery
Chewf/Owner Nima Safaei, doesn’t do fancy restaurant names, he sticks to the safe option of using the door number and why not? It helps people find the place.
I don’t know what was here before 64, I’ve been walking up and down Old Compton Street for over thirty years and I can rarely remember places when they change. I do remember a wonderful old tobacconist that used to have a permanent gas flame running on the counter for patrons to light up from, which then became a boring shoe shop. And yet close by 64 still, remarkably, is the wonderful Algerian coffee shop. Long may it stay.
Inside 64 is a sight I haven’t seen for many years at lunch. Middle aged people eating and drinking copiously and well, and at lunchtime too. Back in the day every Soho restaurant had a clientele made up of advertising suits lunching clients, production houses influencing advertising creatives and a fair number of assistant directors and lighting cameramen chewing the fat. None of them would be leaving until the clock passed three, at the earliest.
Also comforting is the decor. It’s old skool. True there are no chianti bottles covered in wax, nor fading postcards of Capri, but it’s fresh and warm and welcoming. Large cushions encourage you to fall asleep after your sambuca, Dean Martin is busy explaining what ‘amore’ is on the (a bit too loud) speakers. And there are good smells drifting up the stairs. We feel immediately at home.
A simple menu appears of pasta, pizza and classic starters. I swerve the Aubergine Parmigiana because, as much as I like it, I know from experience that classic Italian restaurants serve it hotter than molten lava and I won’t be able to eat it until everyone else has finished their dessert.
So deep fried squid with fried courgettes, plus dips of mayo and something chilli hot. It’s a generous portion and the squid has been very lightly dusted in flour before its bath in hot oil. This is far better than batter as it lets the tender squid shine through. The courgettes are particularly nice, being good and salty.
Talking of volcanically hot M has gone for pork and beef meatballs, tomato basil sauce with focaccia. I can see the sauce bubbling furiously. He blows hard on each spoonful and declares it very good, as frequent mozzarella strings determinedly link his chin to his plate and need disentangling.
We’re liking all this as well as the casual, friendly air of the place. Even a large delivery that comes straight through the restaurant, which surely could have been arranged outside opening hours, doesn’t dent our mood. Oddly and rather charmingly, the chefs bring up each dish themselves from the basement.
Onwards to a chicken, saffron and asparagus risotto for M. Not something I would choose myself as risotto really needs to be made from scratch and that takes twenty minutes and many places cheat on it, but I think this was done to order. The rice was perfect, the risotto creamy, so it made the correct wave-like motion when the plate was shaken. A lovely saffron yellow and it went down well.
Lured by the mention of truffle, I had pappardelle, porcini and truffle (oil). It’s the kind of simple dish that has to be made with the best ingredients and the pasta was clearly freshly made and cooked exactly right. Chef had, I think, used some of the pasta water in the mushroom mix so that its starch made everything creamily good. Deliciously fresh porcini and plenty of them. This is what we go to Italy for. Or Soho.
I wasn’t all that impressed by my TIramisu, which was a little bit too dry, but M’s traditional Italian coffee-dessert of affogato – hot espresso (beans from next door) poured over gelato with a splash of amaretto – hit the spot. Enough caffeine to get over the post lunch slump.
It was now 2:30, the right kind of time to end lunch and we wobbled back to Greek Street like it was still the 1980s. Pub next.
64 flies the flag for old Soho without being anachronistic. Not as trendy as Lina Stores, but easier to get a table and less sense of hurry up. In fact there’s no sense of hurry up it’s a relaxed vibe.
We will stroll back soon.
4 Old Compton Street
London W1D 4UQ
Tel: 020 7287 2043
www.64oldcomptonstreet.com
Opening times
Sunday & Bank Holidays: 12pm – 10:30pm
Monday – Thursday 12pm – 11pm
Friday – Saturday 12pm – 11:30pm