Gloria Trattoria | Extroverted Shoreditch Restaurant
Shoreditch’s Gloria trattoria was the first London opening for France’s Big Mamma Group.
And true to their name, she is truly huge, bombastic, and over-the-top in all the right ways.
Her arrival was greeted with queues of adoring fans for months after opening, and her success has already led to two siblings in Central London, Circolo Popolare and Ave Mario, plus a couple more London restaurants set to open soon.
Right from the outset, Gloria seems to announce her refusal to simply blend in, dressed from the outside with sunshine yellow awnings, ivy-covered walls, and literally dozens of terracotta pots overflowing with greenery. Inside, things continue just as ritzily as you would expect, with two lavish dining rooms: one upstairs coated in marble and chintz, with ’50s-style fittings and colourful Italian crockery, the other downstairs: a darker, moodier, ’70s-esque space with a sunken open kitchen, and a mirrored ceiling reflecting the ornately decorated carpeting below.
And just when you thought that this Italian restaurant was about as maximalist as it could get, you see the menu…
The starters at Gloria include a warm & fluffy focaccia with wild Sicilian fennel and “London’s longest grissini” breadsticks; and some Culatello Con Contenna (a rare ham which comes from Parma) which they helpfully explain “is to ham what Wu-Tang Clan is to hip-hop”.
The larger secondi include a ten-layer lasagne; a little lobster risotto (and by ‘little’ we mean ‘a vast sharing portion large enough for two people’); some classic carbonara made before your eyes in a giant wheel of pecorino cheese; and house-made crimped ribbons of mafalda pasta served with fresh black Molise truffle and mascarpone. Gloria offers Neapolitan-style pizzas too, covered with the likes of smoked mozzarella, fior di latte, candied onions, black truffle cream, san Marzano tomatoes, and more.
And to top it all off? There are outlandishly inventive cocktails like the Trophy Negroni (bumped up with porcini mushroom wine & truffle foam) and the Tehran Twist Margarita made with tequila and saffron – plus desserts that include Gloria’s famous wedge of lemon meringue pie standing over half a foot tall, and a single profiterole the size of a shot put.
Yes, this lady has big balls.
NOTE: Gloria is open for lunch and dinner, daily. You can find out more, and book, at their website right HERE.
Gloria | 54-56 Great Eastern St, EC2A 3QR
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