Bocca di Lupo

I've really tried hard to fall in love with Bocca di Lupo the way the rest of London has. Seriously, I have gone and attempted to be wowed every time and yet it has never happened. Every time I'm left with the feeling that perhaps, I'm just ordering wrong but after three attempts I have officially given up. It is the kind of restaurant I know I should like - Italian food from a variety of different regions, flexible ordering, an elegant dining room and prime location in Soho. This is technically the kind of restaurant that could suit every occasion, if only the food lived up to everything else. 

We started with their complimentary bread basket and olives, which was possibly the highlight of the meal. Roasted Onion Focaccia took center stage and was incredibly moorish, and tasty.

Seabream Carpaccio, which arrived complimentary, was lovely. Incredibly fresh, but the rosemary oil wasn't all that apparent. 

Deep fried artichoke was okay, it had a nice texture, but lacked seasoning and any discernible flavour.

The Boyfriend's Gnocchi with Lamb Ragu, was thoroughly enjoyed, but the parmesan that topped the dish was applied with a heavy hand and ended up not melting onto the Ragu. 

Orchiette, Cime de Rape, Chili, again had too much parmesan, which was a bit overwhelming but otherwise good. 

Teal, "a tiny duck", was yet another disappointment, the texture of the meat, was more beef like than poultry and seemed to lack any discernable flavours. The wet polenta that accompanied the duck was lumpy, and the bacon that sat on top glistened due to being almost entirely fat. 

Peas, mint, weird gelatine like substance but the texture just compromised the flavour. 

I did like that a "perfect peach" was available on the menu, although why it took 15 minutes to show up I didn’t like, especially given my glass of sparkling Muscat was half empty by that point. 

Service felt chaotic, perhaps thanks to the slowness of the dessert. Two of the staff seemed to be having an argument, something The Boyfriend had noted last time we came. The manager however, was wonderfully chatty and made the experience much friendlier. The bill came to a grand total £77.51, a total bargain in most circumstances, with two glasses of sparkling wine (Franciacorta Brut Rose, Fratelli Berlucchi, 2005) and a glass of sparkling Muscat desert wine.