Sartoria

At short notice I was set the task of finding a restaurant in Piccadilly for lunch with a friend in between her day of meetings. Short notice ruled out The Wolseley and price ruled out Nobu etc. what with it being just 2 days to pay day, so funds were getting short.

After a bit of hunting I ended up with Sartoria – this wasn’t without some trepidation as many of the ex Conran restaurants seem to have declined quite badly with their shift to D&D. I used to like Pont de la Tour and the Butlers Wharf Chop House but haven’t been to either in a long time as they got rather over priced with a distinct drop in quality, but Sartoria is alright – not fantastic but alright.

It feels slightly dated inside, but not in an unpleasant way – just a cool 5 years ago type of vibe. There is lots of space and comfy chairs, but it’s also just a bit too beige/grey.

Service is distinctly mixed – some of the staff seem to struggle with English as it’s clearly not their first language and so whilst they are all friendly enough there do seem to be some moments of confusion. Bread went missing – apparently it was on its way but didn’t make an appearance till 20 minutes later and only after being chased, though it was lovely when it did arrive and the olive is definitely the option to go for. The bill also took far longer to arrive than would have been ideal, but we got what we ordered and plates were cleared quickly.

The food was reasonable – not exceptional but miles better than many of the other D&D options. I had saddle of salt marsh lamb with olives and aubergine – the lamb was a little too dry but otherwise alright, though I would have preferred to get asked how I wanted it cooked as a bit pinker would have been better, my friend ate rib eye beef. We accompanied these with roast potatoes which were great, deep fried courgette – lovely tempura, almost as good as the ones at Daphne’s – and purple sprouting broccoli with chilli, which was fine, but you couldn’t tell there was any chilli in there.

Desserts were tiramisu – always a classic and very well done, really creamy with lovely soft tastes – and rhubarb pannacotta, which was very nice, the pannacotta being properly set and thick and the rhubarb with that fresh sweet taste and bite you only get early in the year.

Value for money was reasonable – 2 courses (main courses come in at mid £20’s, desserts at £7-8), water, service, 3 glasses of wine were £115 – not great but far cheaper than many of the nearby options.

Would I go again? Probably but if I could ever manage to book The Wolseley then we’d have gone there instead.

Had spent my own minutes with friends last week there. Can say surely this is a right choice to have authentic Italian cuisine. Service is really good. I loved there. Delicious foodies. Pork belly, castellucio lentils, braised chicory, salsa verde are really tasteful. Now the location is offering some special deals, I received the status from dinner-deals.com where the place, I booked.

The fact that Sartoria has tailor's dummies in the window says a lot about its attitude to food – more style than substance. I had an acceptable but not exceptional business lunch here – a starter of poached egg, truffle, polenta and cheese was spoilt by a slightly watery, bland egg. The main course of John Dory was more flavourful and the fish was perfectly cooked, soft and moist in the middle with a crisp skin and delicious vegetable accompaniments. The service was fautless but the staff seemed to somehow lack the passion that you find in some of the other D&D establishments.