On the busy Bayswater Road an Italian restaurant is bringing a relaxed atmosphere and plenty of fancy pasta
Tortello is part of the Royal Lancaster Hotel and it shares the ground floor of the building and similarly looks out over to Hyde Park. It has, perhaps rather optimistically, a small terrace out front and, as we left after lunch with the sun coming out, that actually looked like a very nice place to be.
Passing some small olive trees, seemingly at home in London, a giant electric glass door lets you into the restaurant with a chic ‘swish’. Inside it’s all very cool and rather romantic thanks to a minty green colour palette, white tables and plenty of foliage. A lemon on each side plate adds a nice touch. ‘Amalfi lemons?’ I ask the very charming manager. ‘No,’ he says, ‘just ordinary, we keep the Amalfis for the kitchen.’ Fair enough.
The whole interior is classy but not oppressively so, it certainly isn’t a local Trattoria and manages to make you feel pampered but not overwhelmed. Menus are printed on good quality paper and napkins are linen, small touches that always make a difference to me.
The menu is obviously Italian, offering the Antipasti, Primi and Secondi that hardly anyone but someone greedy like me wants these days. I guess we’re all too busy, or watching our waistline, something I abandoned many years ago.
S doesn’t want Secondi so I grudgingly also settle for just three courses, but to be honest it’s going to be enough. The draw at Tortello is stuffed pasta; tortellos are larger than tortellini and translates to “stuffed cake” and that can be rather filling.
We foolishly stuff ourselves up a bit first on focaccia dunked in grassy olive oil. The focaccia is a bit too chewy for my taste, with no salty ‘crust’ on top, but S likes it a lot and despite my criticisms I still eat a fair bit of it.
Our starters differ, he has the Orkney crab tortelli, charcoal pasta with lemon butter emulsion, a very dramatic looking plateful and one he’s very impressed by, noting the smoothness of the pasta and the sweetness of the crab cut slightly by the emulsion.
Microherbs add colour and elegance. Activated charcoal powder, by the way, has no flavour on its own, but shows Tortello’s pasta is home made, not that it was ever in doubt.
I have the classic starter of Burrata and tomato, but this is done differently. Recognising that tomatoes in the UK, unless from one’s own garden, are as hard as apples and virtually tasteless, chef has created a gazpacho instead.
In this proudly sits a ‘La Latteria’ Burrata, one of the best Burratas you can buy. Delicious and the gazpacho works, although it’s a bit too fridge cold for my liking. Bread crumble and basil oil set it all off nicely.
For our mains you can’t go wrong with pasta and ragù and S’s Radiatori with slow braised beef shin ragù, cacio ricotta, and gremolata is excellent. The radiatori, looking like hasselback potatoes, grasp the luscious rich sauce beautifully. Ragu served with fettuccine is a messy business, you end up with a shirt that looks like a crime scene, this way is far more civilised.
You don’t see cacio ricotta much, which despite its name is a cheese for grating, replacing the usual Parmesan or Pecorino. It’s slightly sour, but in a good way like an aged Provalone.
Continuing to stuff myself, I have more stuffed pasta – pea and shallot tortelli, mint butter emulsion, guanciale, pecorino. The pasta is a bit thick, but I know from experience that thin pasta tends to explode in the boiling water, but the filling is excellent. Sweet peas and savoury shallot. The pieces of guanciale (pig’s cheek) sit nicely cooked between crispy and firm and also add salt. Mint and peas, of course, are a classic double act. The butter feels a bit sinful, but why not? A good dish.
As usual S doesn’t want dessert and as usual I want tiramisu. Here it’s a hazelnut tiramisù, extremely rich and comprising the usual soaked sponge fingers and topped off with thick mascarpone delicately piped, and a dusting of smashed hazelnuts that have been rolled in cocoa powder. As usual, no alcohol, in fact no Italian restaurant seems to put alcohol in Tiramisu any more. I suppose it’s so that the kiddies can eat it, but I am a grown up and I want it!
If you want a neighbourhood Italian that has real Roman class and daily fresh pasta that is precise and creative, Tortello is right up your street.
Royal Lancaster London, Lancaster Terrace, London W2 2TY.
www.royallancaster.com/bars/tortello/
Dining and Cooking