February 2017

Eating out
Bombetta
Susan Birtwistle couldn't resist the siren's call to a meatlovers
paradise in Snaresbrook
I’d never been to Snaresbrook before. To me,
it was all Snaresbrook Crown Court where
Boy George was convicted and jailed for false
imprisonment. But let’s move on.
Bombetta was the siren’s call that finally lured
me. It’s named after the meaty treats that farm
workers from Puglia in Italy would eat together.
Small pieces of meat rolled up into a bundle, held
together by another piece of cured meat and
cooked over a fire. Sounds pretty tasty.
If you’re not local you won’t get lost, it’s literally
next to Snaresbrook station in the building that
looks like it used to be the old mini cab office. I
like that. But once inside it’s all classy tan leather
seats and banquettes with diamond stitching, a
bit like sitting inside an expensive Italian car.
Bombetta is a comfortable place to sit, eat and
chat with family and friends. This is a lovely thing.
One of life’s simple pleasures. We ate and drank
well here. It’s not over fussy in either service or
food and I mean this as a compliment. But for a
restaurant famed for its meat, it’s ironic that the
food I enjoyed most here was meat free.
I went with a close friend and we ordered and ate
grilled Piemontese peppers, burratina, sea bass
carpaccio and for the bombette we had pork with
prosciutto, scamorza and oregano.
While it was all delicious and fresh, there’s a
couple of things to consider. The burrantina, as
recommended by our waiter, was exceptional.
The other is we forgot to order any sauce to go
with the bombette. Don’t do that as I think it will
make all the difference.
We didn’t forget to have pudding though – lovely
rich dark chocolate torte, topped with ice cream,
served with a jug of hot chocolate sauce. As Boy
George would say: ‘It’s a miracle."
£5.50-£16 per plate
bombettalondon.com, 1-5 Station Approach, E11.
LOVEEAST FEBRUARY 2017 33