Capriccio

Angella

Perfect food, decor and service 11th January 2009

2 found this helpful

Best Italian restaurant I've been to in years. Run by a chef you don't see - you just see his food, and front of house partner Gianni ('You can call me Johnny') who greets and goodbyes regular customers with smiles, handshakes or hugs.

The clean, cosy restaurant has a mural at the back showing the rock pillars in front of the Blue Grotto of Capri (made famous in a film) and this scene is echoed on the front of the menu.

At first sight it is unnervingly expensive in times of credit crunch. But a range of prices.

The kir was modestly priced. Dover sole is at the high end, over £20 for a main course. The chicken and veal are at the lower end, about £14.

Dress Code
Price clearly does not deter the subtly well dressed clientele. Every man wore a shirt and tie. Nobody flashy. But smart.

Noise and Conviviality
Everybody was smiling and jolly. On the night of our first visit (it won't be the last) we got talking to agreeable eighty year olds who'd been coming here for years.

Although I saw loudspeakers high on the ceiling I heard no music and at the end when most people had left I overheard one diner talking about the blocks of flats his company managed.

Delightful Decor
Completely clean. Totally Italian. Almost.

We could identify Venice with the gondolas. The trompe l'oeil mural as you face the front is Italian. I asked Gianni. The paintings on my left were of islands near Taormina, Sicily and Ischia island near the island of Capri.

The two landscape pictures are of London. One shows Hampstead nearby in North London. The other is of Kew Gardens in South London.

Seating
Chairs look pretty and elegant. The first restaurant I've been to out of about five in the past month where I didn't notice the shortcomings of the chair size, shape or softness as I sat down. I just felt comfortable. That's how it should be.

Drinks
I ordered kir. Very nice. I was asked if I wanted kir royale. I began to suspect I was being upsold but I was wrong. The service was brilliant. They checked at every stage to be sure you got exactly what you wanted and expected.

My dining companion ordered Orvieto. Gianni warned him that it was a slightly sweet wine and checked that was what he wanted. It wasn't. So the order was changed to something else. Which was perfect.

Starters
I ordered pumpkin soup. It happened to be one of the cheaper choices. It's also my all time favourite. The colour is great. I love the flavour.

My companion chose the stracciatelle, Italian egg drop soup. Chicken soup would catch the eye of the clientele in Golders Green. (Delisserie across the road serving Jewish style but not kosher food would be remembered by local diners for the chicken soup.) So here we have chicken soup reputed to cure a cold and any other ailment. An authentic Italian dish. Chicken soup with strands of beaten egg in two colours, white and cream.

Main courses
My main dish was veal.

As he finishes the top layer of the Dover sole and needs somewhere to put the bones, a long plate appears and is placed on the right.

Desserts
My dessert was fruit salad with mango sorbet. Good and fresh, no surplus syrup.
It contained mango, melon and pineapple. Sorbet always seems to me fresher and less fattening than ice cream.

My companion chose creme brulee with berries. Perfect. Crispy top. Creamy inside.

Coffee
We had espresso with the 'crema', dark froth, which you can only make with the more expensive espresso machines. In small cups bearing the restaurant name.

Two types of brown sugar appeared. The small grain easy to mix type. And the little funny shape crunchy rocks which I adore.

The waiter took a lot of trouble to swivel and straighten and generally arrange the plate bearing the sugar at an angle to look good on the table.

Toilets
Perfect. Absolutely clean. Looked brand new. Everything there. Toilet paper. Hook to hang up your handbag.

Clean gleaming basins with not a touch of limescale in sight. Two dispensers of soap gel and moisturiser.

In the Ladies' a vase with plant display.

Farewell
Somebody at the door to say goodbye.

Parking
On the street outside late at night.

Memories
What do you remember? My fellow diner remembers the service.

I remember the petit fours. As you see in the picture. Chocolates and chocolate covered biscuits and a liqueur chocolate. And a turkish delight. Only thing missing is marzipan and nuts. But more than nine chocolates and biscuits for two people is hardly a hardship, is it.

'Save up for your birthday,' I was advised when we arrived and looked at the menu. I thought that was a joke. I would be saving up for the Michelin starred Fat Duck at Bray. But I think many people would find this restaurant the right price and perfect for a birthday celebration.

How do you remember the restaurant name? Capriccio translates as caprice in English. It is the name of a Strauss opera.

Ampers at 12/06/09

Normally, if I read a review like this I would suspect a plant.

However my wife and I went there on a recommendation to celebrate our 32nd Wedding Anniversary and it was exactly as this reviewer has written. Full marks for whoever you are. An accurate and honest review.

Our bill came to £136.95. It seems expensive but I never go by cost, I go by "value for money" and this restaurant certainly gives "value for money", even to the free large brandy "the boss" poured for me at the end. We are not rich, I am seventy and my wife slightly younger so we have to make our savings stretch. But for that special occasion, as Arnie says; "We will be back".

One last point. They do half bottles of some of their better wines so we had half a bottle of really good champagne with our fish first course, and a half bottle of excellent Barolo with our steak/Duck main course. It always upsets me when a restaurant only has their house wine in half bottles.

Ampers

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