I love Urban Spoon. It keeps life simple. Given the number of restaurants I try, and the number of restaurants I want to try, Urban Spoon keeps things organised. However, one of the unintended consequences of my Urban Spoon Wish List is its effect on my dining patterns due to its alphabetical nature. More than 50% of my reviews to date, are about restaurants starting with the letters B and C. I am not convinced so far that this is a new trend by restauranteurs who believe that proximity to the start of the alphabet will increase business (although, clearly it does in my case!) instead when I flick on to my wish list I see the restaurant at the top of the list and think, why not? In fact, I was forced to stop myself when trying to book dinner for tonight Bar Trattoria Semplice deciding instead to book Terroirs to buck the trend.I realised this today, which meant last week I ended up at Cecconi's, with The Boyfriend, to celebrate one year of dating.
Ever since being reccomended by a friend, who has identical taste in restaurants, I knew I had to go. I think however, this may be the one eating establishment we differ on. The restaurant is owned by the Soho House Group so I think its safe to call this place an "it" restaurant. Its also evident from the clientele, its a great place to play the " lets try and spot a handbag that costs less than a grand" game. Apparently, Madonna (whose last name is actually Ciccone, incidentally)is also a fan and seen often here. That doesn't particularly sell the place to me but some people get a kick out of that sort of thing.
Things didn't start well in my mind when they showed us a table set for four people, practically in front of the door, and then took away two sets of cutlery. Why they couldn't do that before we arrived, and leave us with the impression they had actually thought about us customers, I'm not sure. I am sure that if I was Madonna the table would have been set correctly but such is life.
I would like to comment on the decor, but as I was not only in front of the door but facing it too, I didnt get that long to take in my surroundings. The lack of lighting didnt help matters either. Its a pretty restaurant, but nothing to write home about. I did notice that unfortunately, Madge was missing from the restaurant. I did appreciate our table cloths however, (I'm hating the white table cloth backlash that seems to be all the rage in London restaurants at the moment) and appreciated them even more after realising that tables next to the window didn't get any. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe they seat you based on whether or not they think you can manage to get the food from the plate to your mouth without involving the table cloth in an attempt to cut down dry cleaning. Who knows.
We started with a couple of small dishes or "Cicchetti", Venetian Tapas. Breaded Baby Balls of Mozzarella - £5.00 - were pretty tasty but all cheese deep fried is bound to taste fairly good. They were a bit liquid inside and a bit salty on the outside but to two incredibly hungover people, they were just what the doctor ordered. Bet Madonna doesn't order these guys.
The next cicchetti - Warm Octopus, Potatoes and Olives - £8.00 - was much better. The octopus was slightly crispy but not overcooked inside, and the potatoes were oddly sweet. I can't do this dish justice by trying to describe it fully, but if you go order it.
We then moved on to a tartare - Monkfish carpaccio with tomatoes and olives - £11.00 - which I didnt find all that appealing, especially not with a hangover, so I left it to The Boyfriend who devoured every last bit.
The Boyfriend opted for -Gnocchi with Prawns and Artichokes - £18.00 - as a main which he enjoyed. It looked fairly liquid from where i was sitting. More like a soup, a badly presented one at that, with potato dumplings but he seemed pleased with his choice.
I ordered a special for the evening - Ravioli filled with Ricotta with Truffle - (at god knows what cost). The pasta itself was gorgeous, freshly made and cooked to a perfect Al Dente. They shaved the truffle on in front of me and were quite generous with portion sizes but the combination of the ricotta and the truffle together was just far too rich. I was defeated midway through, a new experience for The Boyfriend.
We ended the meal with raspberry sorbet as I was desperate for something to cleanse my palate. It tasted more like ice cream rather than sorbet due to its creamy consistency. I liked it but not for £7.00.
All of this was served by an Italian waiter (extra points for him being Italian) who was surprisingly efficient (even more points for him being Italian and efficient).
The bill came to £95.00, which made the meal on the expensive side considering the quality of the food and that we only had one glass of wine each.
Ever since being reccomended by a friend, who has identical taste in restaurants, I knew I had to go. I think however, this may be the one eating establishment we differ on. The restaurant is owned by the Soho House Group so I think its safe to call this place an "it" restaurant. Its also evident from the clientele, its a great place to play the " lets try and spot a handbag that costs less than a grand" game. Apparently, Madonna (whose last name is actually Ciccone, incidentally)is also a fan and seen often here. That doesn't particularly sell the place to me but some people get a kick out of that sort of thing.
Things didn't start well in my mind when they showed us a table set for four people, practically in front of the door, and then took away two sets of cutlery. Why they couldn't do that before we arrived, and leave us with the impression they had actually thought about us customers, I'm not sure. I am sure that if I was Madonna the table would have been set correctly but such is life.
I would like to comment on the decor, but as I was not only in front of the door but facing it too, I didnt get that long to take in my surroundings. The lack of lighting didnt help matters either. Its a pretty restaurant, but nothing to write home about. I did notice that unfortunately, Madge was missing from the restaurant. I did appreciate our table cloths however, (I'm hating the white table cloth backlash that seems to be all the rage in London restaurants at the moment) and appreciated them even more after realising that tables next to the window didn't get any. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe they seat you based on whether or not they think you can manage to get the food from the plate to your mouth without involving the table cloth in an attempt to cut down dry cleaning. Who knows.
We started with a couple of small dishes or "Cicchetti", Venetian Tapas. Breaded Baby Balls of Mozzarella - £5.00 - were pretty tasty but all cheese deep fried is bound to taste fairly good. They were a bit liquid inside and a bit salty on the outside but to two incredibly hungover people, they were just what the doctor ordered. Bet Madonna doesn't order these guys.
We ended the meal with raspberry sorbet as I was desperate for something to cleanse my palate. It tasted more like ice cream rather than sorbet due to its creamy consistency. I liked it but not for £7.00.
All of this was served by an Italian waiter (extra points for him being Italian) who was surprisingly efficient (even more points for him being Italian and efficient).
The bill came to £95.00, which made the meal on the expensive side considering the quality of the food and that we only had one glass of wine each.
No comments:
Post a Comment