Panino Giusto

Italian Restaurant in The City
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7 / 10 from 4 reviews
Address
Royal Exchange
Threadneedle Street
The City
London
EC3V 3LR
Map
Telephone
Broadgate
Cuisine
Italian
Region
The City
Nearest Station
Bank
0.08 miles
Opening Summary
Monday - Friday: 11:30 - 0:00

Milanese restaurant specialising in paninis opens first London branch within the Royal Exchange complex.

Panino Giusto Picture Gallery

Panino Giusto Picture
Panino Giusto Picture

All In London Review

Panino Giusto bring gourmet panino to London

What we know as panino over here are often the sorry-looking sandwiches filled with rubbery mozzarella that lurk at the backs of the shelves of petrol station supermarkets. But just like pizza and Mexican food, panino derive from greater things.

In Italy Panino Giusto have 22 branches. They even operate four smart restaurants in Japan. For their first site in London, they’ve ambitiously chosen the Royal Exchange, the plush shopping mall opposite Bank station where they count Hermès, Montblanc and Penhaligon’s as neighbours. But they’re not trying to be gimmicky à la Bubbledogs (although there is a pretty enticing wine list with Gavi di Gavi, Chianti and Riesling priced between £16 and £37), as they’ve been trading for 34 years which is too long for flash-in-the-pan concepts.

They claim to use exactly 70g of meat, cheese and French bread, along with fresh vegetables, sauces and oils; in Milan, the birthplace of the panini, they even have an educational centre and a library devoted to the Italian sandwich.

Happily the food lives up to all this build-up: the Tirolese is fantastic: smoky speck, the famous ham from Tyrol, binds a generous layer of rich homemade veal pate and a slice of just-melting Brie. The Tonino doesn’t quite match up, as its combination of raw tuna, orange and peppery rocket is a bit muddled, but elsewhere the York, a plate of herby roast Piemontese beef, and a dish of bavaresi, chunky, crinkled chips, go down very well indeed. And we love the Mediterraneo’s obscenely meaty slices of smoked swordfish, served with raw fennel and a pot of balsamic vinegar drops, a molecular invention we at first mistake for roe.

The only let down is dessert, the mint gelato specifically, which is merely an ice cream bar on a stick paired with a pot of cold runny chocolate labelled “fondue”, and a bit of powder they’re calling “chocolate caviar”. We turn our noses up at ordering tiramisu to start with - an Italian restaurant serving their ubiquitous national pud is not usually going to set any fireworks off – but after some gentle suggesting we order it, and their gorgeously creamy version deserves top marks.

The panino average £6-7, but you can splurge on the £14 lightly smoked Red King Wild Alaska salmon with butter and lemon. With their delectable ingredients, good wines and keen prices, Panino Giusto could repeat their Italian success over here.

Reviewed by Leila
Published on Jun 5, 2013


User Reviews

Assia
from London

Jul 1, 2014

Went there for lunch, in a group of 10. We were not offered drinks for some time and the food took a long time to arrive, but that's fine - my gripe really is about the quality of the food. I had the Sicilian salad- mozzarella, roast aubergine and courgettes - which was measly, dry, shrivelled and unappetising. Many people in the group had the Panini- I noticed that the bread looked unbaked and that the ham was processed "supermarket" type, not even closely resembling Italian ham.

For someone with pretentions for Italian food, this is, simply, unacceptable.
Ainely
from London

Nov 1, 2013

I am Italian, and had a Panino today. The filling ingredients were nice, but please don't use packaged panini bread from the UK. When I am paying £6 for a panini I would appreciate some REAL bread (ciabatta or similar). Quite disappointed.
Jill Boumphrey
from Hertfordshire

Jul 18, 2013

Three of us ate there on a very hot evening last week. The venue was cool and comfortable with excellent service. The simple Italian food was delicious: well prepared clean tastings of yummy cold meats and smoked fish with salad greens. Dessert wrappings of small choc ices were an exciting innovation. An enjoyable evening for us all
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