As insta-friendly restaurants go Ours Restaurant in Knightsbridge is certainly up there. The iconic catwalk is often frequented by ‘insta-models’ who may or may not even be dining there. During our visit, we watched a photoshoot take place before our very eyes. Baffling. However, staff are so used to this now they explained to us that as long as people don’t start taking their clothes off (yep, this has actually happened!) they’re happy for them to continue.
Lovely as flower walls and catwalk entrances are – we wanted to know, is the food up to scratch?
Formerly under Tom Sellers, Head Chef Douglas Santi is now at the helm. For this summer menu he’s drawn upon his inspiration from his childhood, heritage and a recent trip back to Tuscany, to focus on the freshest seasonal flavours that echo the simplicity of Italian cooking. Similarly, head barman Nico Perations has drawn inspiration from the Tuscany region to create 3 refreshing Italian spritz options for the Summer Menu, including a ginger & cucumber spritz, grapefruit campari spritz and classic orange & campari spritz, which can be enjoyed at the central bar or on the mezzanine level.
We kicked off our feast with a bread basket big enough to feed an army and when we pointed this out, Douglas sweetly pointed out that he wants diners to feel ‘at home, at Ours’. So wear your stretchy pants, because that means you’re not going home hungry. The crispy feta kataifi is a clever take on a middle eastern dish which is normally served for dessert. Here it’s presented as a starter, stuffed with salty feta and drizzled with honey and truffle shavings. Can it even be called a summer menu unless a great big bowl of creamy burrata appears? Here it’s paired with lashings of extra virgin olive oil and ripe cherry tomatoes. Another new, suitably summery dish includes the huge wild prawns, served shell on in a warming chilli and tomato pil pil sauce, perfect for sharing.
There’s a dedicated pasta section from which we tucked into the ultra-decadent homemade ravioli stuffed with taleggio, finished with yet more truffles in a buttery sauce, as well as the lobster spaghetti in a simple tomato, chilli and lemon sauce which certainly made us feel like we should be dining al fresco. And (hello veggies!) – there’s Beyond Meat Tortellini!!
In true Tuscan style, a huge Fiorentina Steak was presented as our final savoury course. Cooked to perfection, it’s a porterhouse cut, so one side is slightly fattier, richer, softer, with the other slightly leaner – both utterly delicious, simply seasoned, letting the quality of the meat do all the talking. Again, it’s the perfect dish to share and took us back to our recent trip to Tuscany at Easter.
As if awakening us from our food trance – the live music started. Including, and I kid you not, a soulful rendition of that classic, ‘Thong Song’.
Desserts quickly finished – we scarpered back to ‘our’ east London. Thank you, Knightsbridge, and goodnight.
