Vivo

6 Reviews on “Vivo”

• Amanda Panda

  Tasty and freshly made Italian food on the main road of Islington. Open front lets the air through on a summer day. A great place to meet with friends for a light bite and drinks. Rooftop is also available but can get a bit crowded. Pastas are deliciously authentic!

  June 29, 2020, 11:52 am

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• Triska

  Part deli, part restaurant, this is an Italian spot that is pretty funky with a serious attitude towards the food and its presentation. We had an array of desserts which were all OK, if a little on the sweet side. Service was impeccable.

  August 11, 2016, 1:38 am

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• Sophie Dempsey

  Love this place! Great atmosphere, very chic interior. But best of all, the best pizza marinara I’ve ever had (including all those scoffed throughout my travels in Italy). Calamari was delicious, too. We stayed for the night drinking cocktails (get the William’s Wish – delicious!). I’ll be back again and again!

  October 10, 2015, 2:14 pm

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• Clara Patricia

  Similar concept to princi in soho but bit smaller in size, less busy and the layout of food is better. I had the melanzane parmigiana which was very tasty while my boyfriend had the lasagna. I also tried the cannoli but I was but disappointed as it taste of cream cheese instead of ricotta cheese. I would love to go to the rooftop garden in the summer!

  May 16, 2015, 3:14 am

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• Hazel

  Went to Vivo for lunch! The decor is contemporary modern and very relaxing. The service was great! I ordered a pesto pasta salad and a slice of margarita pizza. Both were good. Only issue was the cost. The salad and pizza cost me 9! I have been to places with better more quantity for cheaper prices.

  May 4, 2015, 9:36 pm

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• Ellie Mathews

  Islington isnt exactly known for being void of great restaurants and cafes, and Angel in particular is the home of the yummy-mummy/ single young person scene. The area is a real mish-mash of middle class cultures, and thus from that lots of boutique eateries have popped up there over the last few years. When I moved to London four years ago we used Angel simply for its massive Sainsburys and Waitrose and a few clothing shops, but now it is a real destination for foodies. Vivo is a refreshingly modern addition to the Angel food scene thanks to its simple interior design, glass frontage and 14ft long counter of delights. All the food is out on display which avoids the awkward ooh Im not sure if I will like that that can come from overly wordy menus. In fact Vivo doesnt have a menu at all, which saves on paper (yay for trees) but also visually entices diners to get stuck into as many dishes as possible. When we arrived brothers and co-owners Ben and Will talked us through this choice, explaining how they had seen this on their visits to Italy. With chunky Roman pieces at one end (seriously they were like foccacia with topping), stunning French patisserie style cakes in the middle, and a wealth of salads and hot dishes at the other we really were spoilt for choice.You are also spoilt for choice when decided where to tuck into your food. Do you chose the seats outside the restaurant (perfect for afternoon coffee), the large communal benches in the middle (great for lunch time chats), or the heated terrace upstairs. We chose the terrace and started with drinks. As I have given up alcohol, we ordered two non-alcoholic cocktails and asked the barman to surprise us. We ended up with a citrusy sweet combination of orange, passion fruit, mango, strawberry and caramel topped with passion fruit seeds and ice. Who needs alcohol when you can get cocktails this good?The food, as a general, was good. Fresh, flavoursome and packed with different textures, I felt transported to Italy on that roof terrace. I find if the food manages to stop conversation for the right reasons, then its pretty good. Our deep chat about all things post-graduation and the being an adult stuff was regularly interrupted by both of us exclaiming our love for each mouthful, which may explain why were were sat there for so long! My beef lasagne was lovingly layered with soft, slippery pasta, red wine rich beef, delicious umami packed tomato sauce and a creamy, comforting white sauce. Although the top was packed with cheese it was not at all greasy and brought a real crunch to each mouthful. The salads were also fantastic and I would thoroughly recommend getting a mix of these for lunch if youre in the area. My favourite was the endive, pomegranate and fresh mozzarella topped with a light olive oil. I saw fresh mozzarella on Saturday Kitchen several weeks ago and was really intrigued by its milky, soft texture. The salad at Vivo really lived up to my expectations and the cheese contrasted really well with the crunch of the endive and pop of the pomegranate. I also loved the mint rich panzella salad and the cucumber slices were to die for. I didnt think much of the Caesar salad, but I am no fan of the dressing anyway so I guess thats not much of a reflection! theyoungdomesticgoddess.blogspot.com

  May 4, 2015, 2:49 pm

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