Assaggi Restaurant

http://www.assaggi.co.uk

Tom Parker Bowles on Assaggi: Chow bella! Proper Italian regional ...

And sea bass so fresh it still tastes of foamcapped waves.

Because at Assaggi, a small room above an old pub on a road that straddles Notting Hill and Bayswater, they serve up proper Italian regional food, the sort of thing you’d find in the decent trattorias of Olbia (the menu has a definite Sardinian slant), or the beachside restaurants of the Amalfi coast.

This is a place where regulars become part of the furniture, and menus become etched in the soul.

Each time we visit we go through the same charade, listening to Paula passionately extolling the virtues of their hand-picked white crab, or the gently herbed fresh tagliatelle.

Because in a few months this great restaurant, a rare decent Italian in a tepid sea of mediocrity, will be shutting its doors.

Assaggi, 39 Chepstow Place, London W2 | The Independent

I'm fortunate in that my companion is the writer Michael Rose, who lived in Florence for 25 years, during which time, besides becoming an authority on Puccini and Berlioz, he conducted an in-depth study of Italian wines and cuisine.

His scallops are "as good as I've tasted" even if, for £13.90, Assaggi might risk serving four rather than three.

If the main menu lacks an English equivalent, Assaggi makes up for it on the wine list, whose translator seems to have suffered something of a rush of blood.

Scores: 1-3 stay home and cook, 4 needs help, 5 does the job, 6 flashes of promise, 7 good, 8 special, can't wait to go back 9-10 as good as it gets Assaggi 39 Chepstow Place, London W2, tel: 020 7792 5501 Lunch and dinner, Mon-Sat.

About £130 for lunch for two with one bottle of wine, service not included One of the best all-Italian wine lists in the world is the stand-out attraction of the Turi family's stalwart, near Putney Bridge The Poli family's decade-old venture offers some of the most authentic Tuscan cooking outside of Tuscany Maurizio Morelli's food is as creative as it is mouthwatering

Assaggi restaurant review 2001 November London | Italian Cuisine ...

For main course we both tried John Dory with a “tomato and olive sauce” that was more a smear than a sauce.

This was with a wedge of dauphinoise made with olive oil instead of cream (13/20).

This was served with soggy zucchini, good crisp baby green beans and a very plain undercooked spinach (vegetables only 11/20).

For dessert a lemon tart was light and fluffy, different from a French tart and none the worse for it (15/20).

What would we think of an Indian restaurant in London that printed its menu only in Gujarati or Punjabi?

Assaggi | The Luxury Restaurant Guide

There’s something rather pleasing about a seriously good restaurant sitting in a (gorgeously plain-English style) room above a pub.

Alright, it’s a Notting Hill pub, so no darts and karaoke, but there’s an attractive trendiness based on lack of pretension that still seems to pervade parts of Notting Hill.

Back to the food…… Sardinian chef Nino Sassu has created an Italian menu so authentic that it’s almost confusing to find oneself stepping out in Chepstow Place at the end of the night.

Gloriously fresh ingredients, sizzlingly intense dishes, an intimate atmosphere and fantastic service add up to a beautiful night.

Are you ready to order? This week: Assaggi - Telegraph

From the marsh lambs of Orkney to the little critters that feed on the green, green grass of Wales, Britain produces wonderful lambs that are usually ready for the table between four and six months old.

While Italy has its wonderful abbachio (lambs that haven't eaten grass), and teeny lambs roasted with wands of thyme are commonly found in restaurants in Spain at this time of year, we can be a bit squeamish about such things.

When the chef Nino Sassu asked his local farmer for some milk-fed lambs for his restaurant, Assaggi, the reaction was not a positive one.

Nevertheless, Sassu goes to great trouble to put a speciality dish of suckling lamb on his menu at this time of year and it's worth more than a mention in dispatches - not that I ever need an excuse to book a table at Assaggi.

Even the skin and the fat are utterly scrumptious and I notice that all conversation at our table has ceased since the dish arrived - the ultimate silence of the lambs.

Assaggi | Restaurants in Westbourne, London

Opened in 1997, Assaggi was in its early years a modish spot; although the fashionistas have moved on since, the first-floor dining room remains busy, with many customers greeted like long-lost relatives.

The interior is low-key, with a breezy colour scheme in peach and blue; the sash windows allow much natural light into the room.

Tender veal cutlet with deep-fried potato strings and a rosemary-infused jus hit all the right spots too.

We ended with fabulous cheeses, and a classic Assaggi dessert: fluffy baverese (vanilla cream) doused with espresso coffee.

Assaggi has never been a cheap restaurant, but every visit we've paid has made its seem an enduringly compelling destination.