Restaurants

While the louche, cerise-and-magenta dining room has stayed the same, the food at Brumus has moved away from the northern Italian slant that marked its opening last year, settling for Anglo-Italian brasserie-style fare that’s more likely to please its theatre-going and touristic clientele. As a result, the menu now lists steak and kidney pudding alongside rigatoni pasta with beef ragù, but also features competently executed first-rate seafood. If available, the Dorset crab with saffron aïoli sauce and the gargantuan grilled seafood platter, dressed in a simple lemon butter sauce, shouldn’t be missed. The scrumptious bread baskets, filled to the brim with pane carasau, the Sardinian crispbread, and focaccia morsels could easily tempt the most inveterate carbohydrate phobics. The dessert list will please the sweet-toothed with sugary concoctions like steamed syrup pudding with custard, chocolate fondant and crème brûlée. There is a better-than-usual list of wine by the glass, but the steeper-than-usual prices can easily bulk up the final bill. Brumus offers pre- and post-theatre menus, in addition to breakfast and afternoon tea.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009