Camisa & Son

Welcome to Italy — part two.
In a shop the size of a shoe box Italy has an outpost in Soho. Once you enter the shop your brain goes into overdrive due to the massive aromas. Fresh basil, parmesan, olives, parma ham etc.
We got the bresaola and for a guy who is more a pastrami kind of guy I have to say it was fantastic.
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Disclaimer; this was a stop on a SoHo food safari-​thing, so the review may seem rather slim but we only had a few items.

My family have been frequenting this deli since before I was born and have never been disappointed. It is a treasure trove of meats, cheese, antipasti, pasta and more. The staff are wonderful and charismatic and shopping in there is like being caught in a little aromatic bubble away from the rest of London before you step back out onto the choked streets of Soho.
Personally, I go there for the wonderful mortadella and sausages (I believe the ones I get have fennel in them? The flavour is fantastic, especially in a rich tomato sauce with the oversized rigatoni you can get from one of the many pasta drawers opposite the counter). You are sure to find your own favourites there though. I hear great things about the sandwiches and fresh pasta…

I went to Camisa a couple of months ago as I haven’t been there for
sometimes. I used to go there regularly in the past then Major supermarkets
started to stock good quality Italian products. Therefore I go less and less
now. What a disappointment it was in terms of prices which went from being
reasonable years ago to quite expensive nowadays. Another thing, which is the
stronghold of Italian products La Pasta «was very poorly represented in
terms of different shapes and brands. Nowadays they seem to stock mainly
Barilla, not quite the apotheosis of pasta when English supermarkets seems to
stock De Cecco, (even though with limited choice of shapes). At £ 1.40 for a 500g
packet of Barilla at Camisa this is no competition in spending £ 1.56 for the
De Cecco one!!! It is like comparing Starbucks and Café‘ Vergnano in the coffee
arena!!! Anyway I went there mainly to get a panino of some sort as
the weather was quite nice so I could have lunch in the near Soho Square. The exchange (in Italian) between
me and the shop assistant went more or less like this: SA: Can I help you? Me: Yes, can I have a piece of focaccia with mozzarella (at
this point I asked if they had a buffalo one and she replied: of course then buffalo
it is!) tomato and basil. It cost £ 3.50. Fair enough with buffalo I thought. I
went to sit in the square and at my first mouthful, I noticed the alien like
absence of «Sapore». The flavour of
buffalo mozzarella was like drinking solidified water. I cannot imagine
the outcome had I chosen a normal mozzarella!!! I come from the temple of buffalo
mozzarella, where a well known producer recently said no to a demand from The
VATICAN to supply them regularly with BM so as not to undermine the quality of
their product. The tomato and focaccia was in the same league. The only thing I
could taste was the basil! Sorry but nowadays you can not get away with this
when the quality of food has improved beyond recognition in the UK, especially in London that includes eating in pubs or
restaurants.

This place is a must-​go firstly for any Italian in London and secondly for everyone else. It’s a fairly small deli, but they make delicious sandwiches upon request during lunchtime.
They have a great selection of italian products and really good hams, cheeses, olives and so on.
The service is typically Italian: when they’re serving one customer, the whole world disappears, even if the queen were to enter the shop they would carry on doing what they’re doing, and until you get everything you needed you won’t be dismissed.
Italian is spoken by everyone, so feel free to roll your R’s and open your vowels when you enter.
Just today I had an amazing focaccia sandwich with prosciutto crudo, gorgonzola, rocket salad and sun-​dried tomatoes.

This place is fantastic. Cheese and meats are really top quality and reasonably priced, (especially, as other posters have mentioned, compared to its flash down-​the-​road rival, Lina Stores). You’ll pay less for parma ham here than in Tescos, and it will taste ten times as good.
The only problem is I have to order small amounts as I will eat everything I buy there in 24 hours unless I’m forcibly restrained!
The pecorino toscano, 24-​month, parmesan, bresaola, chili mixed olives and san daniele ham are especially good.

Stopped by this place today (20.10.11) after a workmates recommended that I switch up my Deli of choice. You see my local was Lina Stores (notice how I used was). So upon entering the store, I was immediately expecting the classic ‘deli snobbery’ experience. You know when you go to an authentic Deli where the staff give you the cold stare if you take too lon to order or don’t know exactly what you want. Much to my surprise, I was welcomed in a very warm manner. I asked for a selection of meats, and seriously thought this would be the point where they’d start snapping, but nope, again the lovely lady offered a range of sample slices for me to try! Woohoo!
To cut a long story short, I came out a happy girl! Lina Stores can keep there over-​priced food, along with their moody staff, I’m sticking with my new bestie Camisa & Sons!!!
P. S. Could have sworn I spotted the ‘Son’ of Camisa & Sons working in the back room…

Too many good things to say about this place. Just go and experience it for yourself. You won’t regret it!

The number of Italian speaking customers bear testimony to this wonderfully authentic deli and often the queue spills out on to the pavement. Good range of pastas, with nice fresh sauces. The cheeses and bread are worth sampling too.

Sausage-​eater heaven. Cram yourself into this tiny Mecca of Italian deli delights and you’ll never buy the breadcrumbed, packed, reclaimed nonsense from the supermarkets again. Wonderful for homesick Italians and those who love them/​are tired of the moans.

Amazing little deli that would feel out of time even in Italy! The meats and cheeses are top quality, don’t miss their massive sandwiches, great value

I wanted to stay in Camisa & Sons all day; I felt like I was transported straight back to my Boston delis that I grew up with.
I was buying odds and ends for a party I was having that night and the woman that helped me was knowledgable and not too gruff about answering any stupid questions I had. The salami and cheeses and olives and tomatoes were all delectable. I was dying to try some of their homemade raviolis, but will have to save that for another trip.
I thought it was ironic though, how it’s called Camisa and SONS and everyone working behind the counter was female. Looked like Camisa and Daughters to me…

I was inspired by my visit to Little Italy in New York. Lots of amazing delis with fresh food served by authentic Italian families who had been running the place for generations
In London, there isn’t any equivalent Italian area but Camisa on Old Compton is a deli straight out of New York. I love the ‘& Son’ on the sign — gives the place a sense of continuity and history
The sight of all those hams hanging up as you enter the store is enough to set the cookery brain and the stomach going. There is then the main counter with Italian cheeses galore and some deli items and home made pasta.
There is also the full range of tinned and dried goods. The dry pasta from here is better than the fresh stuff from supermarkets. In Italy, they believe the pasta is the star of the dish and the sauce is just there to coat it, not drown it but for that philosophy to work, you need high quality ingredients
I left with some pancetta, ham and mini mozzarellas

Small but perfect! Italian deli just like your mamma would love. I was in a rush but I noticed the exquiste range of fresh pastas and sausages. I love sausages especially served with mash! I chose a tasty garlic and fennel variety… But I’ll be back to try the pastas soon.

A fantastic shop. It’s great to find a shop that stocks 100% Italian produce for a fair price. My family have been shopping there for years and the staff are really friendly. I would deffinately recommend this place if you were on the lookout for pasta and Italian specialities to impress!

This small Italian delicatessen in the heart of Soho is packed with a delicious array of breads, cheeses, olives, meats, pasta (fresh and dried), and so much more. It smells wonderfully homey and there always seems to be lots of staff buzzing about behind the counter, tooing and froing as they take your order. The friendly staff are Italian, and very helpful.
I cam the other day to the ingredients for a pasta dish I was making, and they conveniently had it all at arms reach. A fresh bag of basil, fresh and chopped tinned tomatoes, tinned anchovies and squid ink pasta. I got a slab of their pecorino, and for 70p I got 100g worth of black pitted olives dressed in oil and herbs.
If you like salted fish they also sell bacalhau in large slabs, which is usually quite hard to find.
Camisa also makes fresh sandwiches which are delicious, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself standing in a long cue during lunch hours, as it is that popular a place.

They make their own pastas, pork sausages and sauces. And given the location, they’re surprisingly cheap! I walked out with three very fat garlic & fennel sausages for 2.30 and fresh gnocci for two for 1.50, no more store brand of either for me!
They have quite a few varieties of fresh stuffed pastas as well, I’ll have to go back to try them. Word of warning about the sausage with garlic, there is a lot of garlic in them, I felt sorry for the poor lady sitting next to me on the bus. My sausages were pungent :)

Cave-​like family-​run Italian deli on Soho’s colourful Old Compton Street. This place is as authentic as it gets when sampling the Italian cultural and culinary heritage of the area. The service is fast, informative and chatty. The products are many, inexpensive and of the best quality. As someone who works in the area, it makes a massive difference to me to be able to come out for lunch and have a real alternative to another ‘sopa del dia’ or the queue in Pret. The mozzarella salad with roasted peppers is a personal favourite. Also excellent for Italian sausages and fresh pasta — bring the gnocchi home and eat with just a knob of butter and some sage sprigs. Amazing.

Camisa & Son is an Italian Deli on Old Compton street, which despite its small size sells an incredible amount of goods. They have a large selection of dry goods about, including the usual favourites such as biscotti, pannetonne and a wide range of pastas. Behind the counter they have a wide variety of fresh pasta (I recently had the pumpkin tortellini which was tasty), Italian cheeses, and hams. All of which I’ve tried have been a good quality and very cheap (the meats (prosciutto etc.) are cheaper than in Tesco!). Also, the staff have always been polite.