Review: Norma, Soho

I’ve got to get back to Sicily. Our only visit there was almost 30 years ago, long before I got the foodie bug, and we were there scarcely a week anyway. Since then I’ve watched every episode of Inspector Montalbano (look it up, you won’t be disappointed!) with hungry eyes, and witnessed the abrupt arrival (and saturation) of cannoli and arancini in London. Now I’ve also had a jolly good meal of Sicilian-inspired food here at Norma on Charlotte Street and the desire is stronger than ever.

“Norma” being the local Sicilian term for aubergine pasta, somehow adopted from the title of Bellini’s opera of that name. Needless to say this was on the menu, along with various other Sicilian specialities; arancini and cannoli, natch.

It’s a stylish and comfy dining room over two floors, lots of amber lighting, polished surfaces and plush golden-brown velvety seats. Service was excellent, but at a distinctly Sicilian pace (3.5 hours for six of us to eat three courses).

My starter is a beautifully plated tuna carpaccio, lovely slivers of pink fish dressed with pickled fennel, black olives and little citrussy “caviar”. The dramatic black squid ink crisps served alongside were a nice touch. Maureen went with an arancini of squid ink and swordfish, declaring it nice enough but without the good hit of flavour a load of rice really craves.

For main course my aubergine parmigiana was about as good as this monster of grilled cheese and aubergine can ever get. Every mouthful was soft, tomatoey aubergine and tangy cheese sauce with nicely burnt edges, and although my arteries may have been squeaking a little in complaint I ignored them and devoured it all. Maureen’s skate wing with nduja butter was also declared nice enough, but the skate was a little overcooked. For pudding I enjoyed some very lovely date fritters, a bit like pastry ravioli filled with a sticky-spicy date filling, served with luscious ice cream and flaked almonds.

Norma is probably going to be £55 each for dinner, before drinks, and the price reflects a rather classy venue as well as excellent cooking. Couldn’t call it a bargain, but it’s worth a visit for a belt-bursting taste of Sicily.