Part of a Romanian-based chain, a Mayfair Italian (with a twin in Earl’s Court) offering a generic formula that’s about 20 years out-of-date, and at high prices too; with the food, however, there is nothing actually wrong.
We were intrigued. Not one, but two, branches of this Bucharest-based Italian chain – there’s another in Earl’s Court – have recently opened in the capital. Self-evidently, that requires quite an investment, and when you enter this Mayfair operation, it’s clear that there’s been no skimping on the fit-out. The result may not be the dernier cri in metropolitan sophistication – is this how, if there is such a thing, the English Bar at the Bucharest Hilton might feel? – but the size of the place and the general air of solidity are certainly impressive.
The menu, which is laminated (if not actually shiny-laminated) is likewise. It impresses with its extent – every Italian dish you ever wanted, and a few you didn’t – and the cooking turns out to be very reliable too. This doesn’t entirely address the concern, however, of how extensive the Mayfair market is for cooking in a generic style that was already beginning to seem rather old hat at the end of the last millennium. On the basis of a single February lunchtime visit, admittedly, the answer to that question is: not very. The restaurant was approximately 95% unoccupied on our visit.
Perhaps we, like the rest of the Mayfair lunch market that day, just didn’t ‘get it’. Perhaps the footie boys – calcio is football – turn out in force on a Saturday night. Perhaps they like service which is objectively fine, but which has a relentless tendency to upsell, and which can succeed in making the injunction to ‘enjoy’ sound as much a threat as an encouragement? Perhaps they take comfort in a known-and-usual menu at demanding prices? Who’s to say?
If we had arrived intrigued, we left simply perplexed.
