Rating
Cuisine
Italian / Venetian. Cicchetti, in essence, is Italian tapas.
In a Word
Decadent
Appeals to
People who enjoy the comfort of Italian cuisine, but are also looking something more decadent and livelier than your average Prezzo or Zizzi.
Tasting Britain’s Most Bacchanalian Adventure
It was a very calm and relaxed start to evening, with both of us completely oblivious of the events to follow as we made our way down a festively lit Regent Street to have a look at Cicchetti.
Cicchetti is a new format set up by Italian chain Piccolino, with the first one already established in their restaurant just off Regent Street – we’re told by our host to be expect a Cicchetti to be in every Piccolino in London (although the next to open is in Manchester, apparently).
It’s initially quite confusing to find as it isn’t obvious from the outside where you have to go – we ended up queuing in the wrong line until we were pointed in the right direction.
As we walk into the restaurant and make our way down the spiral staircase, Piccolino gradually becomes darker, moodier and evolves into Cicchetti, where we’re greeted by our host for the evening, Fabio, who is so wonderfully Italian – he’s friendly, very boisterous and gesticulates with every explanation, every story, every you-name-it.
From our understanding, Cicchetti is Italian tapas, although Fabio also tells us that it’s “a thing you take with you”. We’re not quite sure what he meant by this, but I guess we’ll find out?
Decor
I would definitely described the interior as lavish: the seating is leather upholstered, the tables are lacquered, the surface of the bar is entirely marble; it all feels very decadent. There’s a little area at the back where you can see a chef preparing a salad with cured meats hanging from the wall – I’m looking at it and feel like Mr. Simpson. Mmmm… 64 slices of Italian cured meat… 64, 63.
Overall, the environment feels halfway between a restaurant and a champagne bar. There are booths along the outside wall with additional seating around the bar which is in the centre of the room. During our visit, we get the impression that half of the people are there for a meal while the rest for a quick drink (some are standing having a chat with a few even dancing to the dj’s tunes).
We overhear a group adjacent to us saying “are you smashed, mate?” We laugh and think nothing of it, only to realise that we later follow them in their revelry. Perhaps that was Bacchus?
The Drinks
So we kick off the evening with a glass or prosecco, which is a nice start and feels very apt for the setting and environment . I’m not an expert when it comes to prosecco, but it’s pleasant and refreshing, so no problems there.
As we savour our first drink (and there are more to come, I assure you), we scan through the cocktail list and eventually ask Fabio to offer a recommendation. He sends us two cocktails called Bamboo and Dunaway (named after Faye but I forgot to ask why).
The Bamboo is very nice: wonderfully dry and light from the manzanilla sherry, accompanied with strong citrus flavours. I’m not the biggest fan of sweet sherries either, so it’s quite refreshing to find one I actually like.
The Dunaway is incredibly dry and we were warned about this at the start to be fair. It’s made up of fino cherry, orange bitters and cynar (a very bitter Italian liquer made from artichoke), with the cynar being the most predominant in the mix – I can see why they warned us now!
I did enjoy it, but it is too dry to be honest and it would benefit from having something to balance the flavour – I can’t picture anyone ordering this regularly (sorry, Faye).
We’re only halfway through the cocktails by this point – and we’re already feeling quite jolly (it is the festive season we’ll have you know) – when another boisterous Italian man comes up to us asking, “you want wine? red? white?” We hesitate in our response and ask for two glasses of red. We’re on the precipice now with sobriety behind us in the distance; a light push and it’s all over. A glass of wine you say? Uh oh…
A scan of the wine list itself looks reasonable, with a lot of them available by the glass and a few of the more expensive ones by the bottle. Our wine for the evening is pleasant: medium bodied, a nice spice and not too overpowering for the food – very complementary I feel. And here comes the food to soak up the drunk!
The Food
As Cicchetti is basically Italian tapas, you’ll have to order several dishes from the menu. We let Fabio choose as neither of us we’re sure what to go for. While we wait for the mains to arrive, we’re served some comically long bread sticks with a red pesto dip, as well as two very large olives which we could have reported for steroid abuse. The appetizers didn’t do much for either of us to be honest. While the red pesto was delicious, the bread sticks were a challenge to eat: they break very easily, crumbs go everywhere and you look ridiculous while you’re doing it as well. And to top it off, the steroid olives [Ed: lol] were very chewy and still had the stone in them. I think a selection of breads with the red pesto would have been better here.
After our challenging appetisers, the first dish to arrive was a plate of balls (ha… balls)… Arancini bolognese balls to be exact. These are stuffed risotto balls with beef ragu, peas, mozzarella, which are then deep fried in a breadcrumb coating. I really liked them: nice flavours, crispy texture, but then anything with a crispy breadcrumb coating is always moreish.
The Brasato shortly followed. Note for the future: if Cicchetti could go ahead and give us a full portion of this next time, that’d be great. WE WANT MORE, WE WANT MORE. The beef was slow cooked and perfectly tender, with a rich sauce and a wonderfully smooth and silky mashed potato. Yes, WE WANT MORE.
The wild mushroom risotto was perfectly cooked for me. There have been occasions where I’ve had risottos that are far too dry (mine normally) but this was wonderfully creamy and rich – you can tell from a quick whiff that there’s a healthy dash of truffle oil. It was also served with a parmesan crisp, although I think grated parmesan would have been nicer as it would have cut through the richness of the risotto.
Now I’ve never been the biggest fan of steak tartare as I find anything with the semblance of a pulse very off-putting (I feel guilty enough looking at the lobster tank). I must say, though, that this was delightful, but most likely because the tomato, basil and other spices covered up the real flavour of the meat – ideal for me, but I can’t say the same for fans of normal steak tartare (I know this is the case for Jack).
The beef was also served with a few slices of toast, which felt a bit unnecessary to be honest as it would have been fine on its own.
The chicken skewers wrapped in slices of pancetta… oh, man – keep ’em comin’, Fabio. Served on a bed pepperonata (ratatouille), you just couldn’t ask for more really. Wait, can I? Can I make this a thing?
The pizza was definitely one of the best I’ve had for a while (trust me, I have my local pizzeria on speed dial… I know my stuff). A perfect tomato sauce, flavourful mozzarella, and the dough itself was fantastic – a really nice balance of soft dough, but still crispy enough to give it a good crunch when you bite into it (it even looks like it’s been properly cooked in a pizza oven).
This was my first time trying ceviche, and coming from a foreign country known for its sea food (you definitely need a passport to get into Cornwall) I was pretty curious about the taste.
As the sea bass was cured from the citrus juices, you instantly get a huge kick of lemon and lime on the initial mouthful, but as you bite into the flesh of the fish you find it’s incredibly tender and wonderfully fresh (like that feeling of the sea when you eat a huge pot of mussels). There are a few more flavours coming through like chilli and fennel, and there are some chunky vegetables as a bed for the fish (it looked like cabbage and celery, but we can’t remember exactly). Thumbs up from me… I really liked it.
There wasn’t anything amazingly special about the scampi – nice crispy batter, quite tender, and served with a lemon and garlic mayonnaise for dipping. Very pleasant, but a bit boring compared to some of the other options on the menu.
Dessert? Okay, I think we’re ready…
Nice desserts; strange desserts; accidental desserts; we had a range of desserts. Good show, Fabio – it’s very sweet of you (baddum tish).
You can never really go wrong with a chocolate fondant. A smaller and more chocolatey version of Mount Vesuvius with chocolate lava destroying everything in its path – it’s a delicious site to witness. The caramel ice cream also worked really well with the sponge and chocolate sauce. I can’t fault anything about this dessert – a big thumps up from me.
Strawberries with Nutella fondue: I have never seen this before – therefore, I must have it. We ordered this purely for giggle factor, but it was pretty ridiculous to be honest, even with the novelty factor in mind. Don’t get me wrong, it is delicious, but it’s nearly impossible to eat as well. The strawberries just end up getting stuck in this gooey cauldron of half melted Nutella, with you spending half the evening fishing them out rather than eating them. It’s fun idea in theory, but it doesn’t quite work well as a dessert.
And as for the accidental panna cotta… thank you very much! A nice, simple vanilla panna cotta which had a great flavour and texture and with raspberries that complemented the pudding very well. The biscotti – whilst looking a bit out-of-place on the plate – was also a very nice treat at the end. A simple dessert, but done perfectly – another big thumbs up.
The Last Drink
As the last spoonful is savoured, the last drop of wine drunk, and sobriety feels like an old distant friend we haven’t kept in touch with, we draw the evening to a close. But wait, another drink? I’m afraid so! I’m sorry, Fabio, but we really can’t handle the beer – thank you, though!
The Verdict
I personally really enjoyed my evening at Cicchetti. You have the comfort of Italian cuisine, but exceptionally good Italian: the food is wonderfully prepared (with only a few exceptions here and there) and having a selection of dishes really is an enjoyable experience, especially when the food is this good.
The staff are pleasant, accommodating and very knowledgeable of the menu – Fabio was a great host for the evening, even if our livers suffered from his merciless hospitality. The experience also comes at a reasonable price for the area – our meal was between £40-£50, which I think is very good when you consider that included cocktails, wine, mains and dessert (and an accidental dessert).
The environment is also very fun and lively, and you feel as though you’re in a bubble of decadence under the busy streets above.
If our Bacchanalian adventure sounds good enough to you, why not pop in and say hi to Fabio. Let him know that we owe him a beer… or five…
The Details
Inside Piccolino
21 Heddon Street
Mayfair
London
W1B 4BG
0207 287 4029
http://www.individualrestaurants.com/piccolino/heddon-street-london/