Saturday, February 24, 2024 7:00 a.m.
Life is meaningless without a delicious lunch. Without restaurants, London would never be a world-class city. Join City AM editor Andy Sylvester on an occasional tour of the capital’s newly rediscovered spots.
Bardo St. James, St. James
In Tibetan Buddhism, bardo is a state between life and death, a mysterious limbo between the world of walkers and six feet above the ground.
In Italian, it means “extraordinarily delicious pasta.” Just off Trafalgar Square, Balde St His James offers just that.
The basement is all red and gold, with a long bar, velvet armchairs and plush circular booths with a live band playing, giving the place a bit of the charm of a bygone era, but head chef Graziana – Bonacina’s menu is a good mix of modern and traditional dishes. A classic, luxurious Italian flavor.
The star of the show, aside from a trio of musicians plucked straight from the never-made Goodfellas 4, is the pasta, as is the case at any good Italian trattoria, no matter how dramatic the setting. . The two of us took her 2 hours and he got 4 spaces. Spectacular ravioli cacio e pepe, lobster tagliatelle with more crustacean than expected, meaty and mouth-watering beef ragu, spaghetti, pistachio and basil pesto with fresh tomato and ricotta for an unforgettable dish. I did.
They’re all very, very good, and something you’d stumble upon in a Florence alley or an Apulian village would end up in a vaguely focused, self-righteous Instagram post. This is some of the best pasta I’ve ever had in London, and I… eat a lot of pasta.
The support acts are also great, Scallops and Nduja not necessarily the most innovative of recent pairings, but a good one nonetheless. We left with our main dishes, but the Pollo Ripeno (roasted chicken and sausage) looked practically like a meat lover’s dream.
This little town is a strange old affair. Neither clubland nor tourist hell like Leicester Square, whatever is there now in a long-lost and rarely overlooked place lies dangerously close to endless glitz. ing. Sports cafe. However, Bardo has a really classy vibe.
Bardo St James’, 4 Suffolk Pl, London SW1Y 4HX
Cafe Kitty (Soho)
Riddle. Where is everyone? At 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon, my companion and I sat down to the best table in the house at Kitty Fisher’s new gaff in the middle of Soho to enjoy some life-affirming pork belly donuts, a pretty indulgent fried… I was sitting there eating bao buns. All but a few glamors spend more time than necessary taking photos of their salads.
It’s not food that makes people uncomfortable. Café Kitty, run by the proprietors of Kitty Fishers, is a fun and unmistakably modern Soho experience. It’s a combination of slightly sanitized filth (see the aforementioned donuts, the almost obscenely delicious Buffalo His Chicken snack/starter) and a juice bar (combining pear, beetroot and chicory). salad) it just hangs together.
It doesn’t hurt either the decor or the location, right above Soho’s seedy old Walker’s Court. He has a 50-person line outside the Supreme next door, so footsteps obviously aren’t an issue.
It remains a mystery. But all the best parts of Soho were a little mysterious. Go, go now. Prepare the table. And just to be sure, eat a donut too.
Café Kitty, Underbelly Boulevard, 6 Walker’s Ct, London W1F 0BT
National Gallery ocher
The Gallery Restaurant should ring plenty of alarm bells, but the new opening of the National Gallery almost sets it apart from the competition elsewhere in the capital. Surrounded by women looking to have lunch or meet couples who aren’t necessarily married in London, the people watching is just as delicious as the food. It’s bright, well-staffed, the cheeseburgers are to die for, and the boat fish of the day is fresh and well-cooked. It’s not great, but it works, and the whole place screams “Naughty Afternoon Tea.”
Ocher, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN