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Contemporary Italian lunch at Osteria

Octopus starter at Osteria

As an avid foodie, I subscribe to Foodism’s newsletter as I love to be kept up to date with new restaurant openings as well as reading reviews and articles. Whilst reading one of their latest emails, I spotted an article about Osteria in the Barbican centre. If you’re a regular reader of my blog,  you’ll know how often we eat Italian food as my husband is Italian so naturally I booked it for lunch.

Osteria is a new restaurant by chef Anthony Demetre, who is the Chef Patron of both Arbutus in Soho and Wild Honey in Mayfair. Oddly enough, we had been to Wild Honey for dinner the Friday before lunch at Osteria as we’d not been in years.  The Head Chef at Osteria is Patrick Leano, formerly of the Michelin-starred Arbutus in Soho.

decor at Osteria

Like many fine dining restaurants, the menu is quite small and is focused on seasonality. Whilst we were deciding what to order, we enjoyed an Aperol Spritz with some bread and olives. They cut the bread and dish up the olives from a central table in the restaurant to serve to you straight away.

Osteria menu

Osteria decor

We had a window table and had a fantastic view of the fountains in the Barbican. Although we’ve lived in London for over ten years, we had never visited the Barbican! Now I know why it’s one of so many people’s favourite places in London. Personally I’m not a huge fan of Brutalist architecture but the Barbican is certainly an impressive and fascinating centre.

Barbican centre in London

For starters we opted for the grilled octopus with potatoes and red peppers, the porchetta with apple and radicchio and the burrata with tomatoes and broad beans. The dishes were beautifully presented and very flavourful. The porchetta was, unusually, served warm and worked beautifully with the apple. The octopus was perfectly cooked and the burrata was wonderfully creamy.

Starters at Osteria

For mains I opted for the ravioli of cimi de rapa with parmesan and my husband had the veal and ‘Nduja tagliatelle, which had a bit of a kick. I was slightly worried that my pasta would be a bit bitter from the cimi de rapa but it wasn’t at all and was beautifully balanced. I loved it! My husband enjoyed the tagliatelle too.

Mains at Osteria

We don’t tend to have desserts at lunch but my husband always orders a macchiato and his coffee was accompanied by salted caramel chocolates, which we’d had too at Wild Honey and which are very yummy.

coffee and chocolates

If you’re a fan of Negronis, Osteria has an extensive list as well as other cocktails so if you’re in the centre but can’t stay for lunch or dinner, be sure to go for a lovely drink with some aperitvio and enjoy the view.

Kirsty Marrins

Reader, writer, occasional runner, travel lover.

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