Penny L.
Yelp
Spending our first night in Kensington I asked my friend what she faniced for dinner..Italian she said... so after reading positive reviews it was decided.
Walking in the red room, everything oozed of romance and rock and roll.. Every wall was painted red, with the odd minature guitar and LP stuck to the wall.
Through a wooden booth on the right, we spotted the receptionist who led us alway from the romancing couples cuddled on sofas to downstairs.
Downstairs contained several small rooms, all as equally painted as the ones above. It was quite dark, and intimate.. A smartly dressed waiter in black provided us with a wine list, and menus.
The menus consist of a set meal, Two courses for £30 or three for £34.50.
Each starter was priced at a tenner and the average main £20 , so there was little difference to choose the set menu.
Everything sounded as tasty as its price. Starters consisted of salmon , duck salad, baked goats cheese, scallops. and mains of veal, monkfish, various pasta dishes , lamb and seabass. I did not see a great variety of vegetarian options..
After much decision , I orderd the scallops with crispy bacon. asparagus and vanilla & celeriac puree. For the mains Squid ink gnocci with vine tomatos.My friend ordered the award winning goats cheese, beetroot puree on a bed of spinach (minus the walnuts because of her nut allergy). As a main she selected the Chefs Special Baffo Nero fillet of beef.
While we waited , water was brought to the table along with complimententary amuse- bouche.. This delightful mouthful contained a paraham encasing some tasty cheese. Next a basketful of bread with parmasan crips landed..followed swiftly after some hand made breadsticks..
The presentaion of the starters were very impressive, and the taste sublime. The scallops were cooked to perfection, with just the right amount of vanilla. My companions goats cheese was rich and flavoursome, but quite large in size , which made it diffcult to finish.
Starters whisked away, we tackled the mains. THe bowl that contained my gnocci was innovative , almost tulip shaped, and its contents were rich and tasty, My only gripe was that the gnocci was too soft, and the dish lacked crunch to break it up. The beef, although my friend was cautious of its raw looking nature, was incredible... so good in fact I had to snaffle some..
Mains gone we were feeling quite content... and said no to dessert.. the waiter persisted by bringing a tray of every dessert they had. Each one looked like a piece of art, so dismissing the heavy brownie, tiramissu, we selected the mint panacotta. This was most unusual, but pleasant and cleansed the pallet Finally a jar of homemade biscotti was gifted to us. I took one piece and waved the white flag.
Overall a very romantic, slighly pricey place (which we expected) however the waiters were VERY attentive. A few times I caught them sneaking up behind to have a cheeky look. Also it was slighty crafty to bring the desserts to us after we declined. However all in all, highly recommend.