Kitchen Italia, England by Bureaucrat

One night after work, the four of us went and had dinner at Kitchen Italia, a restaurant in Covent Garden which was suggested by Ms B.


Located in the Seven Dials shopping area, we descended the stairs down into KI.


I'm not a fan of communal dining but this was bearable. The tables were spacious enough so that you weren't rubbing your elbows with another diner.


For drinks, I had the virgin berry mojito which was made with fresh berries and mint - very refreshing.


Ms S had the house red which came in a pretty carafe.


For entrees, we shared the porcini and rosemary bread. It was alright, but I thought it was bland. It could have done with a sprinkle of sea salt.


Ms B only had time for a quick bite, so she ordered the bruschetta. While it looked quite good, Ms B thought it was bland, and would have preferred it if the bread was rubbed with some garlic and the tomatoes had some red onions to liven up the flavours.


For mains, I ordered the chargrilled chicken breast with basil soup. This was delicious! Pure, golden chicken broth, which was perfectly seasoned. Plenty of fresh egg pasta (just al dente) and generous chicken breast. I would definitely order this again. The only comment is that there was a bit too much cracked pepper.


Ms S ordered the linguine vongole. Ms S quite liked her dish and was pleased to know that the clams were fresh and not frozen.


Ms G ordered the tuna nicoise. It wasn't the best of looking of dishes and Ms G didn't enjoy it. The tuna didn't look too fresh (it probably was fresh, but it just didn't look it). Ms G also didn't like the dry croutons, which according to the menu description, should have been chunky chunks of bread drenched in olive oil. After making a complaint, the waiter offered for the kitchen to remake the dish to her satisfaction. Ms G declined.

As they cleared our dishes, the manager asked Ms G if she would like a dessert on the house. We all thought that was quite nice of KI to do so.


Ms G ordered the mascarpone berry cheesecake, which was very rich and berryful. Quite a big serve, which Ms G struggled to finish.

Overall
A mixed result. While Ms S and I liked our selections, Ms B and Ms G weren't too impressed. I give KI extra points for giving Ms G a complimentary dessert and the way they handled the complaint (professional, no fuss). I also liked how there was a range of olive oils and condiments on the table for you to try. All in all, I'd go back again.

Address
Kitchen Italia
41 Earlham Street
Covent Garden
WC2H 9LX

Telephone: 020 7632 9500