Last Updated on February 8, 2025
Neighbourhood Italian in St John’s Wood
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
On St John’s High Street, a new Italian restaurant has transferred from its previous address in Mayfair. Babbo is a well-sized, smart-casual eatery with a lounge bar in the back where the football was playing on a large TV. Maroon banquettes line the walls and the tables are wooden with a simple table lamp. On the walls, sculptural wall lights radiate sunbeam-shaped light to match the floor tiling, round with red tiles laid in the shape of a sun.
A warm welcome greeted us as we bundled in from the cold weather. Indoors this neighbourhood restaurant was packed by 8 pm on a Thursday evening with a predominantly older clientele, while by the time we left a younger crowd was filling the tables for the second sitting. We noticed people stopping to greet friends at other tables which adds to the ambience of a local eatery.
The large menu touches all bases – pizza, pasta, meatballs, arancini, a few salads, grilled meats, fish and veal. Dishes are drawn from a variety of Italian regions and there are dishes that most people will recognise.
I am not drinking alcohol but my companion chose a glass of rosé and another of white wine from the short list of wines available by the glass.
We ordered a portion of arancini al tartufo nero and a plate of aubergine parmigiana as starters. It’s worth noting that portions are generous at Babbo – the size of the bread basket on the neighbouring table was filled to overflowing with different breads and Italian specialities including focaccia and Sardinian ‘music bread’, pane carasau.
The trio of arancini were perched on a squash puree and covered with a snowfall of parmesan and a generous grating of truffle. They were very comforting to eat albeit with a chewy rather than crisp shell.
The aubergine parmigiana was well presented with a salad garnish. Multiple layers of thinly sliced aubergine were held together with tomato sauce and cheese with a very cheesy topping that had been well grilled so that some bits of cheese were slightly crispy. This is a dish I would happily re-order. It caused me to reflect on the ‘healthy’ aubergine parmigiana that I make at home and just how good the real deal can be.
My main course piccata di vitello al limone comprised three escalopes of veal on a lemony sauce, topped with sliced artichoke. The veal was very tender and the artichoke lent a wonderful extra layer of flavour to the meat and the citrussy sauce. It was served with a portion of mashed potato that looked attractive in a small copper pot.
My companion’s roast potatoes were more tempting with a beautifully crisp exterior and fluffy interior and perfectly seasoned. The accompanying cod in a spicy guazzetto sauce, capers and Taggiasca olives, was a hefty portion of two fillets of cod, well-cooked – if rather under-seasoned. The sauce was not spicy as suggested by the menu description but nor is a guazzetto sauce spicy so perhaps the menu description is misleading.
I had a taste of the cod and promptly swallowed a fish bone. This is the sort of dish one might cook at home for a mid-week dinner when wanting to eat a typically Italian fish dish. Guazzetto means ‘splashed with wine’ so there is a chef’s treat in there while cooking.
For dessert at Babbo, we each had a taste of the chocolate fondant which was served in a ramekin so we were denied the pleasure of cutting through the cake to reveal the molten chocolate inside that should ooze seductively onto the plate. As the ball of vanilla ice cream sat on top of the fondant, the dish rather collapsed into itself.
We rounded off the meal with a fresh mint tea and a decaf coffee.
Babbo is a convivial restaurant with a neighbourhood feel. It is open from breakfast through to dinner and I would imagine that on a sunny weekend, it would be a good venue for a leisurely brunch on the outdoor terrace. It is the sort of local spot that one could drop in for a pizza, a salad and a glass of wine with friends while putting the world to rights. Certainly, the place was packed with diners, a hearty hubbub of chatter and no one was going home hungry.
Babbo 29 – 31 St John’s High Street, St John’s Wood, London NW8 7NH 020 37251414
Looking for an Italian restaurant in central London? We recommend Sette in Knightsbridge
