The food scene in Earl’s Court is changing fast – and for the better. The Resident checks out Theo’s Simple Italian, Theo Randall’s latest easy dining option
Words: Vicky Mayer
What do you look for in a great local restaurant? Easy access from your home of course, but also a great menu and friendly staff so you’ll return time and time again. In two spacious rooms at the Hotel Indigo in Barkston Gardens renowned chef Theo Randall has created Theo’s Simple Italian, a friendly neighbourhood restaurant that really works.
From the moment we walked in we were treated like old friends with the sort of service sadly lacking in a lot of West End restaurants. Theo’s Simple Italian is the sort of place you can go for a blow-out three-course dinner with friends or simply a plate of pasta and a glass of wine by yourself; there are no rules or expectations here and it’s casual dining at its very best.
Sticking to the Italian tradition of offering a menu of cicchetti (small bites), anti pasti, primi and secondi, we opted to try out a few things between us. Cleverly, most of the menu is offered in different portion sizes so you can choose what you want, depending on how hungry you are. You can also choose single glasses of wine to accompany your dishes.
We started with a super fresh plate of calamarata allo scoglio with prawns, mussels and squid. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente with the fish being served as proper bite-sized chunks.
Continuing the sharing theme, we chose a sirloin steak for our main course, which was more than enough for two hungry people, served on the bone with rainbow chard, Portobello mushrooms and jus. The steak was a huge hit, flavoursome and perfectly cooked, but the side of zucchini fritti was even better. Order two servings, you’ll love them.
Pleasingly, the portions are the size to properly fill you up but we still couldn’t resist a white chocolate tart with chocolate sauce (two spoons of course) and two perfect macchiatos to finish. Alongside the high standard of cooking, the prices here are a hit too, making this the perfect neighbourhood stop-off. I just wish I lived in Earl’s Court.
34 Barkston Gardens, Earl’s Court SW5 OEW; theossimpleitalian.co.uk
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