Como Restaurant review, Kensington, London

Como Restaurant in Kensington sits on a busy corner location on Kensington High Street, but once I passed under the red canopy through their doors, the contrasting tranquillity was both surprising and appealing.

It’s a warm welcome too on arrival and a sense of conviviality, the sort I have I’ve come to expect from owners Italian twins, Alberto and Adrian Zandi. Como Garden is part of a trio of lovely restaurants – check out the other two restaurants: Riviera and Bottega.

Como Garden has an attractive, almost terrace-like interior with wall trellises designed to evoke the essence of Italy’s Lake Como region. And with tables and booths circling a central olive tree, and lush greenery dotted around it’s easy to imagine that you are in an out-of-the-way eatery in the Lombardy region, especially after sunset and the daylight disappears.

The menu is, of course, Italian, taking you on a journey around Italy, including dishes from Sicily. Though the choice of seven pizzas (including my favourite, the Quattro Fromagie with Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Scamorzaon) made the menu look ravishing, we decided to bypass those.

We started with cone-shaped Arancini – an excellent, perfectly crisp bite with just enough cheese and rice combo for a glorious bite and the delicious set of six stacked courgette zucchini fingers.

Cone-shaped Arancini

Zuchini

There’s an appetising choice of main courses including steak tartare, pan-seared seabass and chicken Milanese. We opted for the lobster spaghetti with basil and tomato and Beef Ragu lasagna with bechamel. Both dishes more than delivered on expectations of flavour and freshness.

We also ordered the Sicilian orange salad, a mixed salad comprising segments of orange, pickled onions, olives and caramelised hazelnuts doused in a white wine vinegar, olive oil and honey dressing. This turned out to be a joyful experience for the palate.

Orange Sicilian Salad

Beef Ragu Lasagne

Lobster Spaghetti

Como Garden dish sizes are substantial, so we could not be tempted with a dessert even if the profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce and the warm focaccia with Nutella and strawberries were winking at us.

Verdict:

Como Garden restaurant is an ideal venue for groups of friends and even those looking for a little romance without too much fuss. Service is superb and the dishes are both substantial and delicious. It’s a thumbs up from me.

Need to know:

• Location: 37-45 Kensington High St, London W8 5ED.
• More info and menu: Como Garden

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