Restaurant Review: Bocconcino Mayfair
Nestled in the heart of Mayfair is the modern Italian restaurant Bocconcino. Located on Berkely Square means it is surrounded by popular restaurants such as Amazonico, Sexy fish and Bagatelle, which sets the expectations high upon arrival. I also had high hopes as this restaurant was recommended by a friend who works in the luxury restaurant mark, so my best friend and I decided to visit as a late birthday celebration, in late December.
The building had an ornate display of white flowers upon its exterior, with a doorman standing outside, so immediately it seemed to fit the location of the iconic street. The doorman welcomed us in, and we were greeted by two ladies in matching red blazers, who offered to take our coats and escorted us to the lounge as our table wasn’t quite ready yet.
The lounge was downstairs, next to the seating area of tables with a DJ and live music, on this night it was a saxophonist. The lady told us to order some drinks whilst we waited, and that she would be back when the table was ready. The saxophonist was incredible and was really engaged with the guests, approaching each table while playing lively music and dancing, inviting them to join in with the festive atmosphere. This was the area we had hoped to book, however it was completely booked up when we tried to, even though it was at least two months in advance that we had tried. So, I would recommend booking very early, or to keep watching the site for cancellations.
Although the atmosphere was electric, we sat in the lounge for twenty minutes before being shown to our table, which is not a problem, but the whole time we were sat there no one came over to us to take a drink order, like the lady had said! Due to our fascination with the saxophonist, this didn’t seem to phase us, it was only upon reflection we thought anything of it.
We were taken to our table; the lady was very sweet and wished me a happy birthday and was making general chat. The are we were sitting in was a lot waiter than the other are, however we didn’t mind, and we knew that’s what we had booked. It was decorated beautifully with faux trees and earthy colours, reminding me of the downstairs of the restaurant and bar Hide. Overall, the area was very aesthetically pleasing, and is great for an Instagram feed or Tiktok! Phones eat first!
The menu was vast and had lots of different options to satisfy different tastebuds. There was a wide variety of starts, salads, pastas, pizzas, main courses of meats and fishes, and decadent desserts. The menu encapsulates all different flavours of Italy from Tuscan and Sicilian to Neapolitan and venetian influences.
The extensive choices made it hard to pick what to get. Some of my top options included from each section where, to start; seared scallops, deep fried calamari or tartare trio of tuna, salmon and yellowtail, salads; crab salad or a chicken Caesar salad, pasta; prawn and truffle ravioli, crab and tomato linguine or seafood risotto, fish mains; salmon with broccoli and tomatoes or tuna fillet with vegetable caponata, meat mains; lamb with creamed potatoes and artichoke or veal Milanese, pizza; pizza fungi, pizza vegetariana or pizza burrata, and lastly desserts; Sicilian cannoli, chocolate fondant or lemon meringue tart.
We finally chose burrata and rosemary focaccia to share as a starter. The focaccia wasn't a stereotypical style, it was thinner and crispier than what comes to mind when you say the word focaccia. It was warm and was perfectly seasoned. The burrata came out with a tiny bit of pesto on top, and the freshest tomatoes I've had in a while. Without the tomatoes the burrata dish would have been seriously lacking, as the burrata was not that impressive, when we cut it open it didn't ooze out, it cut like a mozzarella ball, but was just a bit runnier on the inside. Nevertheless, we polished it all up.
Then for mains we both ordered our favourite dish, lobster and cherry linguine. As this is our favourite meal, we could be being slightly harsh, however for a pasta that is £42 I would be expecting heaven in a mouthful. The lobster was slightly chewy and tough to cut, however it was out of season. Once cut through, it was pleasant enough and paired nicely with the tomatoes and the sauce. However, the pasta was very al dente, which is not my personal preference, I would say that it was even more slightly on the rawer side, which did make the overall dish slightly enjoyable. However, the creamy sauce and lobster did mask the taste of the pasta.
We didn't get a dessert, as we were both feeling rather full but they brought out a scoop of ice cream and a candle in it!
When we were ready to leave, we asked for the bill, and the lady said she would bring it over. We waited fifteen minutes, there was no sign of the bill, so we had to ask again. The service had been pretty good all night up until this point, we assumed our waiter must have gone on his break, and the rest of the staff had forgotten about us!
The only other confusing thing about this restaurant was that there were three ladies toilets, three men’s and one disabled, throughout both floors! So, the wait for the toilet was very long, and caused a lot of frustration to the other guests.
Overall, Bocconcini Mayfair offers a lively atmosphere with its downstairs area featuring a saxophonist and DJ creating an energetic vibe. In the future I would try to book a table within this section, as I think it would have made our experience more enjoyable.
