Stylish setting falls short on substance
MASSIMO
Corinthia Hotel, Northumberland Avenue, SW1, 0207 998 0555, www.massimo-restaurant.co.uk
FOOD
SERVICE
ATMOSPHERE
Cost per person without wine: £42
MASSIMO, in the newly opened Corinthia Hotel between Embankment and Whitehall, can probably claim the prize of grandest dining room to open in London this year. It’s a looming hall that David Collins – the ubiquitous designer of the Wolseley, Nobu Mayfair and the St Pancras Renaissance’s restaurant Gilbert Scott among many others – has filled with striped marble pillars ascending to the heavens, huge orbed lighting installations, glitzy wine cabinets and luxurious brown leather banquettes.
At one end is a stately crustacean bar, where you can sit and eat oysters (good selection) and drink some champers before taking your seat. On the night I visited, there was a party in full swing at the bar, and the restaurant was busy – only a few weeks after opening, Massimo felt like a place that had been running for years. Perhaps that reflects how underserved by good restaurants this part of town has been. In the way of nearby competition there’s pretty much zilch, which is good for Massimo because, on the evidence of my visit, the food isn’t quite there yet.
The Massimo of the title is Massimo Riccioli, a seafood specialist whose Roman restaurant, La Rosetta, is very highly regarded. You might see him flitting between the tables in crimson chef’s overalls, glad-handing diners when you visit.
The menu for his new London operation is, in the Italian way, divided into Antipasti, Pasta and Secondi Piatti sections, with around eight options in each. To get us going, an amuse bouche appeared – a little bite of mackerel, and a spherical crab croquette, efficient little canapés but not exactly cleansers.
I started with scallops served with chopped peppers, coriander and fried leeks, each scallop sitting in a puddle of sweet pepper and juice – a nice combination, though the scallops were a little puny. My friend had crispy squid and cod with courgette, mint and tomato sauce. The calamari was rubbery and run-of-the-mill, with three large chunks of battered cod sitting next to it – there was something of the pub lunch to this dish, which timid shavings of courgette didn’t alleviate.
We opted for three courses each rather than four. I had dark purple risotto of crab and squid ink that was satisfactory if hardly beguiling the senses – there wasn’t the depth of flavour or the lusciousness of texture I’d have expected. Similarly, my friend’s fillet of sea bass in lemon sauce was overdone and less than supple, while over-seasoning crowded out the delicate flavours of the fish and citrus. The crispy prawns sitting beside it were sweet and succulent, however.
For puds, I went for zabaione, an Italian dessert of whipped, aerated custard and sweet marsala wine – a silky, luxuriant dish that had soft, homemade biscuits for crunch. My friend’s dish of four types of chocolate – mousse, gelato, brownie and truffle – promised more than it delivered. It’s early days for Massimo, and such a wow of a dining room deserves food to match.