Spiga
Where: 465 Innes Road, Morningside
Open: Daily 11am to 9pm
Call: 067 138 1115
It’s great to see restaurants buzzing. On a drizzly Thursday night, three of us popped into an old favourite for a simple meal and found the last table on the upper deck ‒ I suppose their equivalent of outer Mongolia.
Spiga was doing what it does best: pumping out good value Italian food to hungry Durbanites. Service is brisk and efficient. Owner Marco Santoniccola is very much in form, creating a “welcome home” vibe. The vino arrives promptly.
Starters are Italian in style and made for sharing. There are bowls of olives, grilled artichokes, home-made meatballs or plates of Parma ham and buffalo Mozzarella. Platters may take in any of the above plus spicy salami, mushrooms, Gorgonzola, and olive tapenade ‒ all served with a focaccia.
And then there’s bruschetta ‒ that’s toast to you and me ‒ given the Italian treatment with tomato relish and basil pesto, or tomato, avo and Parmesan, or smoked salmon cream cheese and black pepper.
The three of us opt to share the carpaccio (R135) with Parmesan shavings and baby mushrooms and a balsamic glaze along with a garlic and rosemary focaccia (R65). An inspired choice, with a large platter of thinly sliced fillet mopped up with the lovely crisp focaccia dipped in a good olive oil.
For mains, it’s a menu many from Durban love, with a selection of pizzas and pastas that are quick and tasty. All have their favourites. Foodie Ingrid Shevlin is a fan of the cartoccio, spaghetti cooked in a bag with olive oil, wine, garlic and chilli and an array of seafood. When you open the bag at the table the aromas are intoxicating.
My friend Meleney loves the tagliatelle Roma with chicken, roasted red and yellow peppers and an aglio olio base. A vegetarian friend loves the linguine alla Shaik, a simple toss together of garlic, chilli, plum tomato, basil and olive oil. One of my favourites is the simple spinach and ricotta panzerotti topped with a supremely rich Gorgonzola sauce.
I was persuaded to try the Glass Guy’s favourite, the lasagne with Gorgonzola (R135) ‒ in fact we all went the Gorgonzola route ‒ which was an inspired dish. Basically mama’s hearty lasagne topped with Gorgonzola and baked in the oven until everything had gone oozy, sticky and thoroughly delicious. It might look like a pile of mush in the picture but I lapped up every last tasty morsel, the Gorgonzola giving it an extra kick. There’s also a chicken, and a prawn lasagne option.
The Glass Guy went for the gnocchi, again in a Gorgonzola sauce (R125), the gnocchi light and reminding him of the dish his Sicilian grandmother used to make him as a kid. I enjoyed it.
For Colin it was the linguine alla chef (R125), in a rich Gorgonzola, garlic, mushroom and cream sauce, to which he added bacon (R35). What came was a carbonara on steroids which is exactly what he felt like and he lapped it all up. I’d certainly recommend it, if you like rich cream sauces.
We finished the second bottle of wine rather than tackle desserts, which take in a good tiramisu ‒ I’d had it recently; an affogato ‒ that’s ice cream topped with espresso, or a selection of gelato.
Food: 3 ½
Service: 3 ½
Ambience: 3 ½
The Bill: R966 for three with 2 bottles of wine.
The Independent on Saturday