Brunello Restaurant
Above: Brunello
Kensington’s opulent Baglioni Hotel claims to have taken its restaurant ‘back to basics’. New head chef Andrea Vercelli (ex-Luciano) has been set to work on a simplified menu, while the starched white cloths have been whipped off dining room tables; even so there’s a limit to how ‘basic’ you can go in a restaurant that shares open-plan space with a five-star hotel lobby done out in black and gold.
The most notable change has been the lowering of prices. Starters and pasta dishes, which used to clock in at £17, now hover around the £10 mark, while most mains give change from a £20. That said, vegetables are extra and some plates – the £55 T-bone among them – still come with lofty price tags. Portions, however, are generous so there’s always the option to share a few things rather than indulge in the traditional four courses.
Our party of three grazed over a combination of salad and pasta ahead of individual mains. We all enjoyed the simplicity of a lightly-dressed spinach and avocado salad but the restrained approach went a bit far in the Sardinian sausage pasta we decided could have passed as a kid’s meal, low as it was in both flavour and seasoning.
We were also disappointed with the duck ravioli, which didn’t come with enough butter and sage to compensate for its dry filling, but we loved the main serving of perfectly grilled tuna on rocket and tomato salad. The roast monkfish with clams, chorizo and cannellini beans was also delicious, though its size left us wishing we’d stuck to the sharing approach at main, too.
With Albert Hall just down the road, we’d recommend popping here for pre-show drinks and nibbles, choosing one of the tables closest to the buzzy bar and washing antipasti down with excellent cocktails.
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