Review: Cafe Murano, St James’s

Review: Cafe Murano, St James’s

Cocktails kicked off the evening at Dukes Hotel; crystal glasses were filled with frozen Number 3 Gin, Vermouth and a large slice of Amalfi lemon peel.  I wholly recommend a visit.  If you can, get Alessandro Palazzi to wheel his trolley to your table and make it before your eyes, the theatre is a must for anyone, just priceless for visitors to the capital.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

We threw the credit card at the evening.  It happened to be my birthday, and surprisingly it wasn’t as costly as I’d first imagined it might be.

I’d booked into Cafe Murano, at the other end of St James’s and a five-minute stroll from Dukes Hotel.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Cafe Murano is pretty unassuming on the outside.   On the inside, a marble bar dominates the length of the dining room, handy for that quick bowl of lunchtime pasta.   I loved that the tables had a decent amount of space between them and for a school night there was a nice buzz about the place.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

It didn’t take long before we’d sat down and had ordered a Menabrea beer and the Aperitivo Of The Day ‘Tramonto di Luglio’ (Myers Rum, Maraschino, Apricot, Sweet & Sour, Lavender bitters).

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

The menu was about to change, but I’m thankful for the selection on offer.

The waiting staff were attentive and offered up help when needed, but weren’t overbearing in the slightest.

Chichetti

We had to have the Angela Hartnett signature arancini (£4.50) (did I mention it’s her restaurant?).  Tightly-packed risotto rice, infused with truffle oil, rolled into balls and breadcrumbs then deep-fried to the perfect crispness.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Salumi with the crispiest Carta di Musica was a good place to start (£12).  Lots of flavourful meat but the clear winner was the Finocchio or fennel-studded salami.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

A well-risen, pillow-soft Rosemary focaccia came with a small saucer (more’s the pity) of Planeta olive oil.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Antipasti

We made relatively light work of the plates and moved to the Antipasti.  A good-sized portion of octopus, potato and caper leaves lasted no longer than the click of the iPhone (£10.50).  Salted and chopped tentacles worked well with the creamy salad potatoes and pickled caper leaves.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

The Tagliatelle Amatriciana with grated pecorino was a well-chosen classic (£10.50/£17.00).  Lovely ribbons of fresh-egg pasta were tossed in a fresh tomato sauce with a generous grated topping of sharp and salty Pecorino.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Mr opted for the Spaghettini, anchovies and pangrattato (£10.00/£16.50).  Again no surprise that the supplier of fresh pasta to Fortnum’s around the corner is pretty good at making a good pasta. Being a huge fan of anchovies, he lapped up the dish of flavours, which was crowned with a breadcrumb and chilli crumb.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Contorni

I thought I was full by this time and then spotted the courgette fritti (£3.75) I managed to work my way through a bowl of deep-fried, batter-coated chips of courgette.  Amazing.

Secondi

Mr ploughed onto the next course.  Beef rump, stracchino, San Marzano and basil (£21.00).  What a joy to taste this plump Italian tomato, grown at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, sweet, dark red with the richness of the beef, which cut like butter, draped with creamy stracchino cheese.  A perfect plate of food.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Dolce

In fairness I was full but the salted caramel baked chocolate pannacotta was winking, heavily.   This was the only dish which left me slightly disappointed.  Sure it was creamy, and a beautiful set but the depth of flavour just wasn’t there, even drizzled with a salted caramel sauce.  That said, I ate the whole thing, so it wasn’t that bad.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

Lastly, the team at Cafe Murano saw it was my Birthday on my booking. I love a Happy Birthday plate, and they didn’t disappoint.

Review: Cafe Murano, St James's

What a lovely evening.  Shame it was a school night.

Love Italian food?  Another top Italian is Sartoria on Savile Row.

Cafe Murano, 33 St James’s Street, London, SW1A 1HD, United Kingdom