My lovely wife and Baby G came up to visit me at the office the other day, they have been up before but not at lunchtime so I was the faced with the quandary of where you can dine comfortably with a baby in the West End. The West End is not short of eateries but space is at a premium and I can think of a few places where turning up with baby and paraphinalia would not welcomed. We decided to go chain and picked Strada off Savile Row. We had been before in our courting days and as italian chains go I think this is the best. We pitched up about 13:30 and though the places was busy we were shown to a good table for two with plenty of room to park the baby.
As per usual he liked all the noise and bussle which allowed us to get on with enjoying lunch. We shared one of their tasty breads to start with and followed this with some pasta. It may not be quite like mamma used to make but it was as nice portion cooked from fresh. My lovely wife went for a creamy fish combination which was very tasty whilst my sausage version was good but lacked a bit of power. However it did the trick. We skipped desert for some coffees and baby G continued to be contented.
The service was very friendly and efficient. I've got a lot of time for Strada as a chain. It looks modern, the menu is varied and updated from the usual spag bol and garlic bread. The well run ones like this are very good though I did have a few issues with service at their Marylebone outpost in the past. I also found the bill to be pretty much what I expected and reasonable. I also like the fact that unlike Pizza Express and Carluccio's they aren't everywhere. I'm all for supporting the independent restaurants but it also good to see a chain getting it right.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8