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An offshoot of Queen’s Park institution The Salusbury Food Store, Messapica is basically that shop in miniature. Think countertops heaving with yummy Italian delicacies and tables crammed with equally yummy mummies. The vibe is relaxed and the service warm – bring your laptop, buy a limonata and you can sit here all day.
You won’t want to miss the food though, which is good Italian deli fare. My favourite thing was the caesar salad: ladled out of a big dish at the counter and served with lashings of mild, creamy dressing, this tasted like the one your imaginary Italian auntie makes back in the old country. Another must-try is the squishy square pizza, served by the slice – it tasted like it’d been warmed up in the microwave. But you know what? It had. This is a deli. You choose stuff from the counter and it gets warmed up. That’s how it works.
Less unpretentious are the prices, though. At £10.60 for a ‘large’ (read: medium at best) salad, this is not village value. But then again, it is in Kensal Rise – which local estate agents are dubbing ‘the new Notting Hill’ – and for this atmos and that caesar, we were happy to splurge those extra pennies.