Smart Italian in Red Lion Street

I’d been to Bacco before just for a glass of wine, when they had been very helpful and provided a basket of interesting bread. B had also been with other friends, so when looking for somewhere for lunch with M&G, we thought this would be a good choice. As we were celebrating their birthdays, we began with a bottle of Prosecco (£36), and then settled into examining the menu.

We wondered aloud what “slightly deep fried squid” might mean, and the waitress hearing us laughingly suggested in her seductive Italian accent it might be that they were still alive when pulled out!  That didn’t work for the similarly described brie though, so she asked her manager. He, also with a strong accent that had M wilting, described how this meant briefly fried in very hot oil.

I don’t know much about Italian grape varieties – they always seem so individualistic – so we settled on the house white, a Trebbiano del Rubicone, from Abruzzo  at a very reasonable £18.90 (the wine list does have plenty of options below£30).  This seemed to go down well so we stayed with it throughout.

M liked the look of the set menu, so began with the soup – an extremely thick mushroom with pesto - it was more like a puree than a soup, but apart from feeling full, M thought it was good. G had mussels – a huge plate in white wine with chickpea cream – also a hit.  B had to try the squid and it was a good as the descriptions had suggested.  My avocado and crabmeat with chilli was a little delayed in coming, and when it did it was on thin, crispy toast rather than the milk rolls advertised.  But it was worth waiting for, a great combination of flavours, and probably all the better for being on toast.

M’s set menu main course was billed as “Chicken Roulade filled w asparagus, four cheese fondue, basil potato mash, gravy”.  In practice the cheese was a background sauce, and the overall effect seemed a little dry, though M said the chicken itself was moist and tasty.  G’s main was the seafood pasta, which came with a surprisingly light but zingy tomato and chilli sauce: there was plenty of seafood, including more mussels.  B had the monk fish medallions cooked excellently and served in a very fresh herby sauce. My cod wrapped in pancetta with red lentils was also very good.

G has a taste for ice cream and sorbet, he chose a selection including some unusual flavours, so I had to keep him company with a tiramisu. Wow, this was so light and melting that it felt like it must be losing you weight!

We had been lingering over lunch, while other tables had come and gone. Bacco is a pretty popular place, so booking is probably a good idea. The whole atmosphere had been relaxed and gentle, with lots of happy and appreciative noises from nearby tables, and the service had been charming and efficient, a fairly uncommon combination.

This excellent meal came to a not insubstantial £250 including service (with 3 bottles of house white, some water and coffee), but for a special occasion represented very good value.