Tapas Brindisi - thoroughly modern and delicious (Mediterranean Restaurants in Southwark)

Member Name: maria14

Product:	Mediterranean Restaurants in Southwark
Date:	05/01/09 (533 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great food, not pretentious, good atmosphere

Disadvantages: Wine prices a bit steep

Tapas Brindisi is just along from the cheese makers Neal's Yard and Borough Market. It's one of my favourite parts of London anyway, but our recent visit was made all the more special by a smashing lunch at Tapas Brindisi.

It is small but very modern looking, with lots of light, metal and glass in the decor. There's no music, but you wouldn't hear it anyway, as everyone is crammed in and everyone's conversations seems to melt into one big hum.

We arrived late, at about 2pm, and were told we'd have to wait. But the harassed looking waiter seemed genuinely apologetic and did his absolute best to get us seated, despite us being a largish group and having two grumpy children in tow, who wanted to go to KFC.

There is a board giving details on the various wines. Wine wise, nothing is particularly cheap. We had a bottle of rioja which was nice, but cost us a whopping #22.

The food was fantastic. We ordered a couple of dishes each, plus bread, olives and marinaded chillis. Then we all just dived in. Each tapas is not particularly big eg re the marinaded lamb cutlets, two smallish lamb cutlets were served. But every single dish was cooked to perfection and the flavours were amazing.

The children loved it, and tried every thing. It was such a sociable meal, with everyone discussing the food and trying a bit of everyone elses.

The service was great. The waiters don't smile alot and are rushed off their feet, but were pleasant and very helpful.

For five of us, the bill came out at about #130, which is alot for a lunch. But it would go down as one of my best ever meals out and the food was so good, we kept ordering more.

Only dish that looked disappointing - the roasted butternut squash. I didn't order it, but the couple at the next table did and they looked disappointed. Plus its a doddle to make yourself. Most of the other dishes contained combinations and flavours I couldn't get at home. Which is surely the main point of splashing out on a meal in a restaurant.

Summary: A good tapas restaurant near to Borough Market