Restaurants

By Jenni Muir

Bar Trattoria Semplice is an offshoot of the very elegant Ristorante Semplice just a polpette’s throw away on Blenheim Street. All gold swirls, leather, hushed tones and fine dining, it’s a restaurant we’ve always found a little too buttoned-up for an Italian.

While you’d never call this new trattoria cheap, it is less expensive than down the road, with mains around £12.50-£14.75, whereas Ristorante Semplice pegs them £16-£23.50. Roast lamb shank with peppers and fregola pasta, and red mullet baked with tomato and potatoes were generous in portion and just as liberal with flavour.

The wine list is entirely Italian and Semplice sources most of the bottles directly from small producers. Manager Giovanni Baldino enthused about the Caggiano red wine we chose from Campania (never the core of Italian wine lists), the option of a 500ml carafe a perfect excuse to trade up from one of the cheaper bottles.

But once he was gone service merely aspired to be on-the-ball. Having said yes to a waiter determined that we should try the salami and cheese board, it arrived with no cheese; later the message that we’d like something from the dessert trolley didn’t seem to get through, so we settled for coffee (which was excellent and, like everything else, carefully sourced).

The bar area, which has 12 stools and a brief all-day menu, looks good, but the more spacious trattoria with its pale walls, oak tabletops and red banquettes lacks cosiness. Fortunately such blips should be semplice to sort out.

Time Out Issue 1997: November 27-December 4