The pursuit of value has recently taken the Tract to no fewer than three West End Italian restaurants, which I think merits some kind of group write-up. The impetus has been my phone company giving me two months’ free membership of the Gourmet Society, an organization through which punters can claim discounts at a range of restaurants in return for an annual membership fee (about £50, if you’re interested.) Now unfortunately it turns out that a good 60% of participating establishments are run by the likes of Signor Prezzo, and of the legit options there are frankly too few that excite any interest for it to be worth paying for. But since I was free-rolling, I thought I’d check out what there was. And as it happened, what there was, was mostly Italian. So, in chronological order:
Chelsea’s Elistano is a restaurant of the sort that usually gets described as ‘neighbourhood Italian’, and it plays the role pretty well. Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms was satisfying if predictably unspectacular, while the saltimbocca (veal wrapped in sage and prosciutto) was a generally strong dish made better by a very good accompanying mash. It could do with being slightly cheaper (main courses are £16-£18), but it’s not a bad choice if you live nearby.
This rib-eye turned out to be a bit disappointing
I recall Via Condotti off Regent Street opening to a fair amount of critical acclaim a couple of years ago, but thankfully it no longer attracts (if it ever did) the hype, absurd difficulty of getting a reservation, and passive-aggressive table turning that afflict newer media darlings such as Bocca de Lupo. The overall impression that I got from our visit is that it was a bit hit-and-miss. Annoyingly, most of the misses seemed to land on my plate: poached egg with chickpea puree and grated parmesan carried the vague promise of heartiness and depth but was aimless, bland and lukewarm; similarly, the rib-eye steak was a cut of nowhere near enough inherent quality to justify its bare presentation and almost total absence of seasoning. In the interests of fairness, however, I should say that the crab tagliolini was reportedly outstanding, and that the reasonable pricing of the dinner menu (£27.50 for three courses or £32.50 for four) means that it doesn’t cost you too much to try your luck.
Linguine alle vongole at Al Duca
Somewhat better was Al Duca near Green Park, a restaurant owned by the same group as Via Condotti. It offers a similar menu, identically priced, but I found the food more consistently solid: amongst other highlights, linguine alle vongole was heavily flavoured with salt and garlic but not to the extent of overpowering the subtler strains of clam, chilli and parsley, while calf’s liver with raisins and pine nuts displayed a similarly judicious balancing of flavours.
Calf's liver
While these experiences were all perfectly pleasant, I have to confess that they confirmed in me a slight ambivalence towards, if not Italian cuisine in its entirety, then at least Italian cuisine in the form in which it tends to get presented in a particular genus of metropolitan restaurant. To my mind the menu of the latter too often displays a broad lack of invention, producing food that is unchallenging without being (and here I suppose I am leaning purely on personal taste) correspondingly comforting. Armed with a 25% discount I was very happy to visit the trio above, but without one I would probably rather direct my scarce resources elsewhere.
