Whilst I confess Italian tapas wasn’t a concept that I was familiar with, after eating at Como Garden in Kensington, I’m desperate to have it again.
When you think of Italian food, you don’t really think of mixing and matching small plates, so much as gorging yourself on pizza or massive bowls of pasta.
And whilst Como Garden does offer both pizza and pasta, nestled a handy five minute walk from High Street Kensington, it’s far from your traditional Italian setting.
It was dimly lit to create a cosy vibe when my friend and I arrived on a slightly cold Thursday evening, but that didn’t take away from the fact that the restaurant was clearly gorgeous, a setting that set the tone for the rest of the evening.
After our friendly and very helpful waiter dropped off our select menu for the evening and told us we should have one of everything, it didn’t take us long to decide to do just that.
The amount of food that followed was slightly overwhelming, but we did our best to have as much as we could of as many different options as possible.
Supplemented by two of Como Garden’s delicious signature cocktails, we dived straight in.
To start, we were given the fried courgette sticks with a tzatsiki-esque dip, which went down well, alongside our first tapas option: the aubergine caponata.
It did not take long before the rest arrived. The parmesan and truffle pasta went down a treat, as did the beef carpaccio and sides including roast potatoes and focaccia bread.
The highlight of the meal – or so we thought – was the marinated chicken with truffle sauce and mashed potatoes.
However, having almost completely cleared our plates, polished off our cocktails and ready to figure out our next move, the waiter placed the sea bass that we completely forgotten was coming in front of us.
We had thought we were both full.
But luckily, we had room left for the fish, which ended up comfortably being both of our favourite dishes – cooked to perfection and marinating in a delicious sauce.
Satisifed, and sipping on wine while we chatted about nothing in particular, the waiter finally placed our dessert – a tiramisu that looked to die for.
I say looked because I’m not a dessert person, as anyone who knows me will attest, even before I’ve eaten more than my share of Italian tapas.
My friend was kind enough to have a respectable attempt at it, and informs me that it was as good as the rest of the meal – so I’ll have to take his word for it.
The staff were polite throughout, helpful almost to a fault, and the food was excellent, so (if you can afford it because it is not a cheap night out) Como Garden in Kensington is a strong recommendation.
You can book a table or check out the menu here.
