There is an Oxford staple that provides a small taste of Italy and solves lunch for many working in Oxford’s city centre. Italiamo is a small Italian cafe in Broad Street and deli on the High Street, but they have now expanded and opened up a trattoria – a casual eatery serving up Italian comfort food. I am sometimes sceptical of trying out Italian places for the fear that they will never live up to my mum’s cooking, but when a place calls itself a trattoria, the nostalgia was too strong to resist.
The Italiamo Trattoria is right next to their cafe on Broad Street, with a classy interior and plenty of outdoor seating to enjoy in the summer months. The first thing that struck my eye when I saw the menu was the Sardinian influences peppered throughout the page. Sardinian cuisine is quite unique, even within Italy, and it is not easy to come by, so I was immediately excited. It is also a good sign in an Italian restaurant to see a regional bias rather than a generic ‘Italian’ menu as Italian cuisine is not the monolith it is usually made out to be, and actually, you won’t find the same food in different regions of Italy.
I straight away ordered an Ichnusa, the Sardinian beer that has become popular throughout Italy.
The main was harder to choose, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try a Sardinian pasta, and there was more than one to choose from. I settled for the Malloreddus, which are small ribbed pasta like a cross between gnocchi and conchiglie. They were served alla Campidanese, which was a tomato-based sauce with sausage and pecorino. I was pleasantly surprised, the pasta was good and the portion sizes were generous, which I greatly appreciated. I would have liked the option to add more Parmesan on top, I was hoping for those little Parmesan pots that you get left with in trattorie in Itay, but sadly there was none offered.
We also tried the mushroom risotto.
It had a deep porcini mushroom flavour which was delicious, again a large portion and a healthy portion of mushrooms throughout the dish, it reminded me of the Alps. The only thing that let this dish down in my opinion is that I would have preferred the rice to be a touch more cooked, it was a little too al dente for me, although I do think I am an anomaly in the Italian community that I like my rice and pasta more on the cooked side.
With mains typically ranging between £15 and £17, it is not the cheapest for a bowl of pasta or pizza but you are getting the opportunity to try some Sardinian cuisine which I have not come across in many other places in the UK.
Then to finish off, in true Italian style, there is no dessert menu, instead, the desserts get read out to you and you nod along pretending to contemplate the options when in reality you knew you were going to order a tiramisu from the beginning.
I think I make a pretty decent tiramisu, and so does my mum, so this was going to be the true test of whether, as an Italian, I would be returning.
The slice of tiramisu was not small, again showing that they lean into the trattoria aspect of dining. The first thing I noticed when trying the famous Italian dessert was that it had a strong coffee flavour, and that was great. It was a decent tiramisu, even though I prefer mine to be a bit heavier on the mascarpone, this felt like it skimped a bit. Although I must say, I lived in Bologna for a year (where they often just serve mascarpone cream in a bowl for dessert), so I do have an exceptionally high bar.
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