Il Baretto

Il Baretto - Simple & Authentic Italian Restaurant, London

http://www.ilbaretto.co.uk

Reviews and related sites

Il Baretto, 43 Blandford Street, London W1 | The Independent

Review analysis
staff   value   food   menu  

It set the gold standard for trattoria life: a local, pop-in-for-supper restaurant, cheap and jolly, full of fiascos of chianti, elongated pepper grinders, joshing waiters and an aproned Neapolitan Mamma pinching your cheek and encouraging you to eat, eat or you will never find l'amore.

Il Baretto is in the heart of Marylebone restaurant-land – the wonderful Anglo-Indian Trishna is next door, the Galvins' flagship round the corner in Baker Street – and promises old-fashioned trattoria virtues.

"I like an Italian restaurant with a white tablecloth," said my date, Virginia Ironside, The Independent's beloved agony aunt.

Its menu and cooking style are indeed that of an old-fashioned trattoria.

All service charge and tips go to the staff" This slice of Naples in Kent serves great seafood; try the linguine with clams, mussels, king prawns in a white wine and tomato sauce.

Il Baretto restaurant review 2010 May London | Italian Cuisine | food ...

Review analysis
value   food   drinks  

A starter (£15.50) of spider crab, rocket and tomatoes had fresh crab (with almost, but not quite, all the shell removed), tomatoes with good flavour, nice and properly dressed rocket (14/20).

Tagliatelle with tomato and basil (£10) had pasta with good texture, again tomatoes with quite good flavour and capable seasoning (14/20).

For main course, sea bass baked in salt (£28) was at least wild bass, and it was nicely cooked, offered with just a little salad; the skill of filleting a fish seemed to have eluded our waiter (14/20 though for a good quality fish, cooked well).

With a £32 wine between us, the bill for three courses still came to £82, which is a little more than the price you would pay at L’Anima or Zafferano.

The dining room was pretty full, so the owners appear to have judged their wealthy and young clientele well, but for those diners not on expenses these prices seem out of proportion to the cooking on offer, which is at best 14/20 level.

Il Baretto, Marylebone

Review analysis
menu   food   drinks  

Located in the heart of Central London, between Marylebone High Street and Baker Street, Il Baretto has built its reputation with a simple and authentic Italian menu which draws influence from speciality dishes and produce of regional Italy.

The menu combines Italian favourites and signature dishes including the popular Fiorentina steak and Salt Baked Seabass, plus new additions such as the Spelt tagliatelle with romanesco broccoli and clams, and the Chicken supreme Milanese style.

The space features dark mahogany tables, leather banquette seating, with an open glass wine cellar, all set against the backdrop of white walls and exposed brickwork.

The upstairs bar, which extends into the site next door, features low tables and communal seating, which allows guests to dine comfortably in the bar.

The extensive wine and cocktail list ensure An acclaimed modern Italian menu which draws influence from the specialty dishes and produce of regional Italy; with a fine selection of fish and meat, including delicate carpacci, sample the authentic lobster linguine or veal Milanese and enjoy the spectacle of pizza freshly cooked in an open wood oven and salt baked sea bass filleted before your eyes.

Il Baretto - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

Review analysis
quietness   food   value  

A noisy but high-quality basement trattoria, on the former Marylebone site of Giusto (RIP).

It's almost better not to know that this new Italian restaurant is owned by Arjun Waney, whose Zuma-based empire also incorporates discreet Mayfair celeb-magnet La Petite Maison.

It's not even in the trendy bit of Marylebone, near the High Street, but marooned half way to Baker Street, on the site formerly known as Giusto (and before that La Spighetta).

The somewhat confusing menu presentation tends to disguise the fact that there is, at heart, a very standard, and quite wide-ranging Italian 'offer'.

Prices, by quality restaurant standards, are reasonable too.

Il Baretto | Marylebone | Restaurant Reviews | Hot Dinners

Il Baretto, 43 Blandford Street, London W1 | The Independent

Review analysis
staff   value   food   menu  

It set the gold standard for trattoria life: a local, pop-in-for-supper restaurant, cheap and jolly, full of fiascos of chianti, elongated pepper grinders, joshing waiters and an aproned Neapolitan Mamma pinching your cheek and encouraging you to eat, eat or you will never find l'amore.

Il Baretto is in the heart of Marylebone restaurant-land – the wonderful Anglo-Indian Trishna is next door, the Galvins' flagship round the corner in Baker Street – and promises old-fashioned trattoria virtues.

"I like an Italian restaurant with a white tablecloth," said my date, Virginia Ironside, The Independent's beloved agony aunt.

Its menu and cooking style are indeed that of an old-fashioned trattoria.

All service charge and tips go to the staff" This slice of Naples in Kent serves great seafood; try the linguine with clams, mussels, king prawns in a white wine and tomato sauce.

Restaurant review: Il Baretto - Telegraph

Review analysis
value   food  

There’s nothing wrong with the interior of Il Baretto, it’s just a tiny bit incomprehensible: air-conditioned to within an inch of its life, with a squeaky new terracotta floor, it feels hygienic, authentic and inexpensive.

T followed this with the lasagne (£8), such good value for a main course that I felt a bit bad, like he was trying to be a really cheap date.

The simplicity, the fact that you can taste the meat and nothing else, the confidence, the clarity of purpose – 'I have a lovely bit of veal here, and I do not want to cover it in cream or breadcrumbs or cheese, I just want to eat it!

The cheese plate (£9) was fabulous: a lovely salty pecorino, a taleggio, nothing unexpected, no, but all of it very well presented and unfailingly delicious.

A perfectly nice, mainly excellent value, genuine, delicious Italian restaurant, in the throbbing epicentre of London, where you’d most expect to be ripped off.

Il Baretto | Restaurants in Marylebone, London

Review analysis
food  

There are ten pizzas from the wood-fired oven, all of them gratifyingly simple assemblages that avoid the twin sins of over-elaboration and over-inventiveness.

Starters include a few cooked dishes and a few from the oven, but the greatest attraction here is the selection of charcuterie, with nearly all the cured meats scrupulously attributed to their region and producer.

Mains include classics such as sea bass cooked in a salt crust and saltimbocca, and there is a range of items (vegetables, fish, poultry and of course meat) cooked on the Robata grill.

Desserts are a relatively simple affair.

In deference to the dietary concerns of the local ladies who lunch, they have launched a range of 'superfood salads' and 'healthy juices.'

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