Italy has for as long as I can remember been my favourite country in the world, with its cuisine also being my favourite! I had heard great things about Antico Restaurant in London and couldn’t wait to see for myself if these were all true. They certainly were, our evening was incredible and the food was as authentic and incredible as Italian food I had dined on in whilst in Italy…
Antico Restaurant is located in the heart of bustling, thriving Bermondsey on Bermondsey Street, only a short walk from Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Bermondsey is known for its exciting and thriving restaurant and bar scene and I honestly don’t think I could have chosen a better restaurant to catch up with my best friend Nina who is visiting from Australia on her first Europe trip!
Antico is a beautiful restaurant, stylish and elegant with a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. Whilst the restaurant was extremely popular and very busy being a Friday night it never once felt crowded or too loud, we loved the relaxed atmosphere in such an elegant setting. Beautifully decorated with wooden floors, brick work, natural elegant lighting and wine bottles dotting the shelves around the restaurant, I was transported back to a similarly decorated authentic Italian restaurant that I had dined at on a previous trip to Florence.
The menu excited me from the moment I looked at it! I had so much trouble choosing from the incredible menu that I had to ask our lovely waitress for her help! As Antico explain their:
“philosophy is simple — Italian comfort food in a comfortable atmosphere. Dishes are kept simple in the hopes of every single ingredient showcasing its clarity of flavour.”
Their menu is authentically Italian with a fresh, modern approach that changes seasonally to ensure they use the freshest of ingredients in their cooking.
Antico’s wine menu is extensive and we opted for the 2013 La Casada Pinot Grigio IGT, an Italian wine which complemented our dishes perfectly. It was a very fresh, easy to drink, refreshing white wine, and we were very pleased with the recommendation.
Nina opted for the braised octopus with shallots, pickled celery, capers, potato and paprika for her entree.
Neither of us had ever had octopus before, and she let me try a little! The octopus was succulent and full of flavour. Every ingredient of the dish was fresh and worked together perfectly to create an exciting, delicious generously sized entrée.
A perfect start to the our night!
For my entrée I chose the beef fillet carpaccio with rocket, pine nuts, parmesan shavings and an apple balsamic dressing,
Thinly sliced and of the highest quality, the beef simply melted in my mouth! The dish was beautifully presented to highlight the fresh, colourful ingredients and each aspect complemented the other ingredients.
I absolutely loved this entrée and would recommend it/order it again next time without a doubt!
Very happy after our first course, we were excited to see what the main course would bring! We had both opted for pasta based dishes after hearing that the pasta is made freshly in the restaurant twice a day and you really cannot get fresher than that!
I was chatting away when our main courses were delivered and Nina immediately tucked in and stopped me the minute she finished her first mouthful. Apologising for interrupting she simply said “Sorry, but this is the best pasta I’ve ever eaten”.
That it was.
She had decided on the slow roasted duck tortelloni with sage butter and sprinkled with parmesan. Simply but lovingly presented it was evident the work that had gone into this meal. Again, we tried each others dishes and it truly was just as good as the pasta I had eaten on my trips to Italy. Authentic, fresh and perfectly cooked, the meal came together perfectly to create the most incredible flavours.
We were both impressed with the generous size of our main courses and that the highest quality of ingredients had been used to create the freshest of authentically prepared and cooked Italian dishes, with a modern twist of course!
I had selected the Italian sausage and porcini ragu tagliatelle for my main course. It was absolutely divine. The pasta was so fresh, light and cooked to perfection. Full of the most incredible flavours I savoured every single last bite. It was just as good, if not better than any pasta dish I have had whilst travelling in Italy.
I highly recommend to anyone visiting Antico, to try one of their pasta dishes. I guarantee you will not regret it!
We were very happy and full after our main course, and could not stop raving about how good the pasta was. We decided we could still fit in dessert as we were so impressed with our dining experience so far that we decided we must also try their dessert menu!
We decided on the Pink Grapefruit Sorbetto and Antico Lemon Tart with Crème Fraiche.
The Pink Grapefruit Sorbetto was smooth and packed a delicious punch of fresh grapefruit flavour! It was fresh and light and the perfect way to end an incredible meal.
Anyone who knows me knows that lemon tart (well any lemon dessert actually) is my favourite and so I generally have pretty high expectations when I order lemon tart. The Antico Lemon Tart exceeded these expectations. Mouthwateringly good, it was light and full of incredible fresh lemon flavours.
It was the perfect dessert to end a perfect evening of delicious food!
The staff at Antico Restaurant were incredibly friendly, helpful and attentive throughout our entire night. We were very well looked after & their recommendations throughout the night were absolutely spot on.
We decided to continue our night by heading downstairs to the bar, 214 Bermondsey which is located directly below Antico Restaurant. Intimate, relaxed, elegant and friendly they serve over 80 gins and and boast the most impressive cocktail menu I’ve ever seen! They are also the home of the new and exciting hand-crafted BTW Tonic Water.
Read more about their gins, cocktails, BTW Tonic Water and our awesome unique Gin & Tonic tasting flight experience here.
I highly recommend Antico Restaurant to anyone visiting London. Their Italian food is simple, authentic and uses the highest quality of fresh ingredients and is as good as any Italian food I have eaten in Italy! We really enjoyed our evening in this relaxed and elegant restaurant and will certainly be back!
To find out more visit:
Antico Restaurant
214 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3TQ
020 7407 4682
http://www.antico-london.co.uk/
The Aussie Flashpacker was invited to review Antico Restaurant.
Our opinions are as always, our own.
Find us: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Google+ | Bloglovin
