At first glance Cantina Del Ponte is a fairly standard restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine, so nothing surprising there. However, with closer inspection and a little indulgent spying, before you know it you’re past the sharp exterior and the wall of City suits that distract the eyes, and into a place you could actually get used to. Currently done up as an après ski wonderland filled with fake snow that manages to look more like the cotton wool it effectively is, than the icy flakes it’s supposed to be, Cantina Del Ponte has gone a little too far. But then again, donning itself in the outfit of Italian ski resort Cortina does give it a little buzz in the same way that firing snow spray into the corners of your windows makes them sparkle (in a lame kind of way) at Christmas.

The menu that rests heavily on the pasta side of things is interesting and the dishes are delicious. The pappardale pasta with wild boar ragu is intense and preceding this, the warm crostini with chicken liver pate is sumptuous. The wine range is good, the house Prosecco delicious and the new range of warm winter cocktails bound to please. Prices aren’t cheap and it might be a stretch to match them with the quality of the food, but with the view from Shad Wharf across the Thames unlikely to disappoint anybody with a heart, it has other strings to its (fake) snow-tipped bow. Get down here while the place is resorted up to the max with its ski-lodge entrance and wintery wonder - at this rate it could be the closest we get to a cold snap!

Cantina Del Ponte

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