Coppi - St Anne's Square - Belfast - Sampling the new menu

I already told you all about Coppi’s beautiful food in one of my previous posts but when I walked past it the other day and caught a glimpse of the new winter menu, I couldn’t resist trying it out.

So I walked in, booked a table for two and brought the menu home with me. It was tantalizing, full of exciting promises and I couldn’t wait to go.

When the day came, I already had a pretty good idea of what I was craving for. Damien and I shared several of the cichetti/tapas, as a starter. The crispy squid, served with a wedge of lemon and a refreshing tangy lime mayonnaise, were a real treat. The contrast of textures between the soft, tender squid and the light crunchy batter was absolutely amazing. We had ordered feta fritters as well, those are a classic we have become addicted too. The hot tasty feta melting inside a beautiful golden crust and layered with rich honey; who could resist that? The last one we ordered was called “popeltini”. They looked like meatballs but tasted so much better. The mince inside was rich and bursting with flavours, an incredible mix of fresh herbs and spices. It was also coated with a very thin layer of batter that kind of had the consistence of choux pastry. Oh my god, I couldn’t have enough!

Choosing the main course was more difficult as they were so many new appealing options on the menu. I opted for a revisited carbonara, which blew me away. There is nothing like homemade pasta. They were served with buttery guanciale, crispy chunks of bacon and sprinkled with shaving of aged Parmesan. The sauce was juicy rather than creamy and brought a whole new dimension to that classic dish. It was not as heavy and so much more refined.

As for Damien, he had ordered a pizzeta topped with Parma ham, fresh roquette and Pecorino cheese. It was a real Italian cheese pizza, thin and crispy dough, tasty ingredients scattered all over but not loaded with melted cheese and tomato sauce. We both enjoyed it. With the pizzeta, he had asked for a side of rosemary and Parmesan fries and sage butter green beans. Both were unreal! I am usually not a big fan of green beans as I have traumatic memories of them from my childhood but those were a revelation, crunchy and deliciously coated with the rich sage butter. The fries were gone in no time as well, skinny, hand cut, rubbed in olive oil and rosemary and sprinkled with grated Parmesan. Those are definitely one of my favorites.

Coppi is definitely on my top 2 restaurants list; their cuisine is so creative and tasty. I wish I could go back every week and sample everything on the menu. So, please do yourself a favour and try it as soon as possible, you won’t be disappointed!