An Italian night out in London: Bardo, St James
As a mamma of two (extremely) energetic boys, I don't need an excuse to waltz into town for a night out. But it sure helps when it's a special occasion. I was a little stumped where to go but I knew I wanted a vibrant place, ideally with live music and entertainment, which narrows it down significantly so. My quest for finding dinner and dance in London still continues.
After debating between options (Sumosan Twigga in the heart of Sloane Street was a sure favourite) I dived into Italian fine dining in London; Bardo in St James. This place makes up the (very small) portfolio of places which do dinner and live music; you have The Maine Mayfair which I shared a couple of years ago and absolutely loved. As well as Quaglino’s (where the food was average with above average prices) and Park Chinois. Whilst there are many more on the London scene, what these have in common is their old school charm and reminiscent of an old, by-gone Jazz era.
I was initially very nervous about Bardo because when a place has been around for long enough, it can start looking and feeling run-down and loses the intricacies that made it special in the first place. Above all else, I'm often immensely disappointed when the standard of food is just not on par… on par with how the place projects itself (restaurants can catfish you too).
This time, I was thrilled. Bardo is done so beautifully; it has a stunning emerald bar and classic, plush cherry red velvet decor. The service was exceptional. Attentive, speedy, warm and hospitable.
And the food… phenomenal; starters, mains and desserts. From freshly baked flat bread (you can see the stone oven upon entry) topped with distinct truffle (there’s a whole selection of toppings to choose from), fresh yellow tail, aromatic butter and sage ravioli, perfectly crisp yet tender seabass and a rather peculiar looking tiramisu….which was light and perfect.
I would go back to dine again. And that’s really saying something as I don’t often go back to the same places twice.
I absolutely loved the way the whole room was designed. Mainly for two reasons; firstly, despite having two large pillars in the room, they did not feel obstructive or intrusive which pillars can often be so. I found that a fascinating element of design being able to achieve such a feeling. Secondly, I loved that they had two payment desks, one on either side of the room, providing symmetrical balance but also designed so simplistically so it didn’t look or feel obtrusive with any bulky machinery protruding for payment.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest disappointments was actually the live music itself. For a Saturday night, there was one man on a Piano and he must’ve played two sets in the space of three hours, with almost a 45 mins gap in between. Meaning, there was not really any kind of musical atmosphere like I experienced at The Maine. And yet, despite this anti-climax, I still loved everything else so that’s saying something towards how perfectly balanced the whole experience was.
Culinary stories
