THE LITTLE SICILIAN, BROADSTAIRS. Try Me, Drink Me, Eat Me... All of Me.

I knew there was a point to my ludicrous idea for writing reviews with the pseudonym of The White Rabbit. 
It’s this review. 
I knew I would find it eventually, it is the one. Is it the only one? I hope not, I hope to find more, I will keep searching. Sometimes you dont know what you are looking for until you stumble down the rabbit hole. This is how I was introduced to The Little Sicilian. 

It describes itself as an “all day Italian”, and occupies a tiny site on York Street in back street Broadstairs. 

New restaurants need to hit the ground running to start making back the investment, so breathless news always pops up online. But of "The Little Sicilian" I had heard nothing. 

It was a chance detour through Albion Street, a tertiary road where you would not expect too much, and where there was once a particularly much loved greasy spoon was now a fine looking restaurant, and it was full. 

We stood outside the restaurant, side by side, and stared in through the big window at the cool, clean lines of the wood-floored dining room, and its display of freshly made breads.

I found my way to the restaurant’s Instagram account.. 

Here were images of candy popping over a plate like an Andy Warhol colour pallet. 

Octopus A'la  Willy Wonka. 

Here you find your dreams on a plate. 

It was both diverting and a touch, not a touch, bloody exciting! 

Was this simply colour by numbers, is this an attempt to fool the unsuspecting, is this the ultimate foodie story of The Emporers New Clothes incarnate? 

No, this place really does outstanding food. 

Alessio and Leo. Look at you, you have the gift. 

Here’s what you need to know: the pasta, made daily, is bloody lovely, full of the requisite slipperiness and bite and tension. There are 10 main pasta dishes, all priced in the £10 to £14 range, supplemented by a trio of further options of risotti, carne and pesce. 

Despite the exuberance on display on Instagram, many of the dishes are comfortingly familiar. There is pasta with mussels in pecorino sauce. There are rissotto A 4 formaggi, this is not a 4 cheese sauce to be disregarded, it is a formidable marriage of Caciuo, Parmiggiano, Provola, and Gorgonzola.

We have Salmon with their Brandy and Pistachio sauce. It is everything the dish should be.  A most decadent and glossiest of sauces, which cling to every ribbon of fibre. 

Hang on, my eyes dart over the menu.... No Pizza! No Pizza in an Italian restaurant? 

This would be like having a pub with no beer! I scoop myself up from my bucket of bemusement, a pub with no beer.. Well it can only be a cocktail bar then! But cocktails are over priced drinks with sparklers right? Depends on the cocktail bar. 

Cocktails aside now. 

What I find really satisfying is that they really understand what they want to do, and by avoiding the temptation to do the expected, they have given themselves the platform to do the unexpected, and thats why this place is irresistible. 

The reviews are simply dripping with adoration. I do not have enough breath to absorb them all, this was the first I came across. 

Best waiters, best chefs, best ingredients… they go above and beyond for us every time we visit (and we’re luckily enough to live just down the road so we visit a lot) The steak and lobster pasta were exceptional tonight, grazie mille Alessio and Leo.

I would be failing in my role as The White Rabbit if I left it there. 

I've led you this far. 

The Little Sicilian is all about delivering exceptional food, and making peoples dreams come true on a plate. 

Its about imagination and respect for the ingredients. Its about delivering an experience from the exquistite food, to the perfectly matched drinks. 

You are drawn into the menu. It all screams try me, drink me, eat me. 

Your only real problem is getting a booking and not being able to try everything in one sitting. 

Result. Thank you Alessio, Thank you, Leo.

HOW DOES IT SCORE

1) Is it to the expected standard?

This place prides itself on exceeding expectations. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR

2) Does it do something that you have always wanted to try?  

Only the whole menu. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR

3) Is it fairly priced? 

When you can get amazing main courses from £10, and the rest of the menu is full of the food you want to fall over yourself to order.. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR 

4) Cleanliness, including customer toilets 

Faultless ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR 

5) Service 

Faultless once again, and their praises are sung in pretty much every review. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR. 

CONTRIBUTING EVIDENCE  

A) Does it have a clear and relevant identity?

They know what they are, so do you. 

B) Does it stand out for quality and standards?

They stand head and shoulders above everything else. 

C) Is there areas of the business that someone else does better?

Not that I have found. 

D) Does it diversify?

Its model is so tight, so polished I don't think they need to. 

E) Will customers return without hesitation?

Try and get a booking!

THE LITTLE SICILIAN EXEMPLIFIES THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IRRESISTIBLE. 

IT SCORES A PERFECT 10, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT, ITS REALLY QUITE EASY. 

THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO AND THEY HAVE EXECUTED THEIR BUSINESS MODEL WITH PIN POINT PRECISION.

SO TASTE, EAT AND DRINK HERE, THIS IS ONE TEA PARTY YOU CANNOT BE LATE FOR!

THE LITTLE SICILIAN

45 York St, Broadstairs CT10 1PB