I love it when a good new restaurant opens in West London. Although there are some great places already, we're not as saturated with good eateries as Soho, or further East. And when that new restaurant (though it's not that new anymore as I'm a bit slow with my write up) is from one of my favourite chefs, then it's even better. Theo Randall's newest venture is Theo's Simple Italian, a casual dining restaurant at boutique hotel, Hotel Indigo, which is a couple of minutes walk from Earl's Court tube station. The restaurant is relaxed, yet chic, and has a deli that sells all of the produce used in their kitchens, plus homemade pastries in the morning and cakes, charcuterie and cheeses in the afternoon, so you can go home and (try to) recreate the delicious dinner you've had there. Theo's new book 'My Simple Italian' might help too!
The food at Theo's Simple Italian focuses on using seasonal ingredients to create dishes that are vibrant and full of flavour. Everything is cooked "simply" - there are no twiddly bits or buffons of foam - just good, tasty plates of food that you'll want to go back for time and again. There's a lovely choice of Italian wines and lots of different craft beers to enjoy with as much or as little food as you fancy. The menu is divided up in to sections of plate size so you can pop in for a quick snack, or go all out and try a bit of everything, like we did! We started small (cicchetti) then worked our way through most of the rest of the menu. Cicchetti plates we tried included the totally addictive polenta chips with anchovy dressing; veal, beef and pork meatballs; calamari fritti; and the olive oil focaccia that's ridiculously good, and of course made on site.
From the antipasti menu we had creamy burrata and fresh-from-Italy tomatoes that taste unlike any tomatoes you'll buy in the supermarket here.
Next were the primi (starters) - as I said, you really can eat as little or as much as you like, as there's so many types of plates to choose from. We had calamarata allo scoglio (pasta tubes with prawns, mussels, squid and fish); risotto al castelrosso cheese (risotto with roasted radicchio tardivo and red wine); and one my absolute favourites - pappardelle with an oxtail ragout. Perfect fresh pastas, made in the kitchen at the restaurant (and by Theo himself before our dinner to show us how it's done).
Finally, for savoury options, from the secondi menu we had veal Milanese with excellent potatoes; fish stew and sea bream with potatoes, capers, fennel and olives. A veritable feast of wonderful Italian dishes.
Should you need/want pudding after all of that, there's a small choice including Theo's signature lemon tart, which you should absolutely leave room for, a Sambuca semifreddo and a white chocolate and orange tart.
Theo's Simple Italian is a welcome and much needed addition to West London's dining scene, so thank you for brining your Italian cooking to where it's needed Theo!
The food at Theo's Simple Italian focuses on using seasonal ingredients to create dishes that are vibrant and full of flavour. Everything is cooked "simply" - there are no twiddly bits or buffons of foam - just good, tasty plates of food that you'll want to go back for time and again. There's a lovely choice of Italian wines and lots of different craft beers to enjoy with as much or as little food as you fancy. The menu is divided up in to sections of plate size so you can pop in for a quick snack, or go all out and try a bit of everything, like we did! We started small (cicchetti) then worked our way through most of the rest of the menu. Cicchetti plates we tried included the totally addictive polenta chips with anchovy dressing; veal, beef and pork meatballs; calamari fritti; and the olive oil focaccia that's ridiculously good, and of course made on site.
From the antipasti menu we had creamy burrata and fresh-from-Italy tomatoes that taste unlike any tomatoes you'll buy in the supermarket here.
Next were the primi (starters) - as I said, you really can eat as little or as much as you like, as there's so many types of plates to choose from. We had calamarata allo scoglio (pasta tubes with prawns, mussels, squid and fish); risotto al castelrosso cheese (risotto with roasted radicchio tardivo and red wine); and one my absolute favourites - pappardelle with an oxtail ragout. Perfect fresh pastas, made in the kitchen at the restaurant (and by Theo himself before our dinner to show us how it's done).
Finally, for savoury options, from the secondi menu we had veal Milanese with excellent potatoes; fish stew and sea bream with potatoes, capers, fennel and olives. A veritable feast of wonderful Italian dishes.
Should you need/want pudding after all of that, there's a small choice including Theo's signature lemon tart, which you should absolutely leave room for, a Sambuca semifreddo and a white chocolate and orange tart.
Theo's Simple Italian is a welcome and much needed addition to West London's dining scene, so thank you for brining your Italian cooking to where it's needed Theo!
Gorgeous x
ReplyDeleteThe food there is absolutely delicious. Definitely gorgeous!
DeleteRosie xx