Sweet Basil, 15 May 2007

Sweet Basil is on the southern side of the market on the outside, facing the London Wool and Fruit Exchange. I heard about it around a month ago, and reports were that it was ok - a change from Carluccios. My companion and I went to the pizzaria, which is in the basement, rather than the ground floor restaurant. The restaurant menu on the website http://www.sweetbasilrestaurant.co.uk/ seemed a bit pricey for a normal lunch (obviously not on expenses!).

The basement seemed full of bustle and life, and then we realised the cause of it was two large tables forming a hen party (at least I assume it was that - one woman had a white veil on her head with a plastic silver coronet, so a fairly safe bet.....). We were easily found a table - there were a number of empty tables, so that it would not have been busy at all if not for the wedding party. The menu is on their website, but there was also a special menu, of which at least three of the dishes appealed, so I didn't even bother to look at the normal list. As a shared starter, we went for the Antipasta. This comprised some Parma ham, salami, normal ham, a few strips of roasted peppers, about four large green olives and scattered capers. I was a bit disappointed with this - Parma ham was good, but the rest was not particularly special.

For main course, I had rigatoni (grooved tubes of pasta) with a sausage, mushroom and tomato sauce, my companion went for the lasagne. Because the hen party were being served before us, we had to wait for 15 pizzas and eight pasta dishes to be delivered to the two large tables. As a result, our main was delayed. When it arrived, though, we were both impressed by the quantity. The lasagne was twice what you might expect from Carluccio's, and, by virtue of the size of the rigatoni pasta, that was significantly larger than the equivalent at Antonio's empire. I found the sausage to be bland to taste - the mushrooms had more flavour! That said, in terms of value for money (as you know, a key feature in this blog!), it was good (it cost about £8). My companion enjoyed her lasagne.

Having said the quantities were large, and that it represented value for money, I was disappointed with the size of the bill - it was, as near as damn it, £17 each including imposed tip, broken down as a £6 starter, two £8 mains, and erm...., well, two one litre bottles of still water. The water must have been expensive. In any event, I should have checked the bill, as I have only now realised the true cost of it.

All in all, I prefer Carluccio's. Lighter, brighter, more lively (apart from the hen party), and you know what you are getting.