I know what you’re all thinking. How did I get my photos to look so amazing. Well it was all thanks to a good lens, the right aperture and slow shutter speed. OK so I’m lying. My photos were absolutely awful. Everything looked like a brown mess so I did the classy thing and begged the Wellesley for some snazzy snaps and look what they came back with – arguably the best you’ll ever see on TheFoodaholic. I’ll admit not all the food looked exactly as pictured here, it wasn’t always consistently pristine plated, but it was very close. Everything looked just as pretty as it does here. I’ve already visited the Oval Restaurant at The Wellesley once before, just over a year ago now and decided to come back and see if its head chef, Michele del Monaco was still up to his old tricks of chucking out confused plates of food in the dining room, but guess what – he’s not. Perhaps the time to settle in here has given this Italian born chef a period to perfect the menus. It’s not cheap by any means, but the food is good. The only thing that’s not good here is the bread – well half of it anyway. All I ask for is some amazing focaccia laced with rosemary and drizzled with oil. Sometimes simple is best.
Starter wise, it was an easy choice. When the promise of moist chunks of octopus tentacles is on the menu, there is just no holding me back. These succulent morsels of octopus were spread out over a richly flavoured mix of Tuscan beans and tropea onions, which meant for a perfumed and very mediterranean dish – all I needed was the Tuscan sun beating down on my face. If there was one noticeable trait about the food here so far compared to my last visit, it was the stark improvement. The food now had more finesse and class about it. The slightly off-blue ceiling lights still remained, but I’ve no doubt a classy white bright light will make an appearance in the future.
My main course here at he Oval Restaurant was the real spectacle of my visit and a dish I couldn’t recommend enough. Succulent lamb chops, swimming in a beautiful, rich and deeply flavoured jus, purple cauliflowers and a gorgeous sweet potato purée. The whole dish was a delight to not only look at but eat. Everything on my plate was very well cooked, the lamb cut through like butter and seasoning was spot on. There isn’t much more I could have asked for, except for perhaps a lower price – but we are in Knightsbridge after all.
On my previous visit here at the Oval Restaurant dessert was at the time its strong point and that hasn’t changed. A classic rum baba was simple but still every bit as I recall from my trips to Italy. I love a simple rum baba so it was nice to see the kitchen not spoiling this age-old classic and serving it just as it should be. Even better still was the chocolate and Nutella fondant with bread ice cream. Nutella is still a little gimmicky for me, but sometimes its the only thing for a fondant – especially if the Italians are involved. Get the fork anywhere near this beauty and the whole thing implodes, leaking buckets of Nutella all over the plate. A messy, but well worth it affair.
So there it is. A restaurant I visited just over a year ago has managed to blossom into a now very good restaurant. It still has faults, yes, such as the bread and hideous blue light in the evening – but the food is good, the staff on this occasion were excellent and the New World wine pairings a delight. It’s all made for an experience I’ll be returning for. I hear they serve one of London’s finest afternoon teas – just another reason to come back to The Wellesley sooner, rather than later.
8/10
