Listen.
If this gaff was in NY and you were on holiday there and stumbled across it on some intrepid manoeuvre to Queens or Brooklyn, you'd be raving to all and sundry about this place you found in Brooklyn or Queens that nobody else had ever heard about and was one of the best kept secrets in NY.
Well you're not on holiday in NY. But you live in London. And Hammersmith isn't intrepid like Plaistow or some Godforsaken place. It's fairly central and packed full of great places to eat. In fact, in this one 200m stretch of the wide pavemented bit of King St W6 I'd say there are five very good restaurants, plus a couple of more dodgy additions. And a Pizza Hut. So competition for the local Hammersmith groat is fierce.
L'Amarosa is the place you rave about because you think you've discovered it.
Seductively lit, all mahogany, mezzanine floor and wine glasses that ting. Even the typography is seductive. This is what you want a proper Italian to be. Flowers on every table. Art on the walls that isn't a blight on your evening. Friendly relaxed service that makes you feel like you're the only ones there when in fact they are often full and never mob handed when it comes to staff. Le Gavroche this ain't. But I defy the aforementioned to whip up a plate of pasta as moreish and satisfying.
The owners cook and serve. And you feel the love with every plate. Excellent small local places like this can't exist without that love. It's too much hard work. But the chef loves his pasta, you can tell. And the maitre 'd loves serving it, you can tell.
The true sign of a good Italian is one where have never heard of the pasta on offer. Fact. I suspect the good places make up the names just for people like me. Toofie. Pacceri. I ask just in case it's not pasta at all. It's all explained gleefully. The menu is small. Another good sign as far as I'm concerned. Three dishes in the pasta section, plus a few in the char grilled section and some nicely put together starters. Courgette with Romesco sauce was pretty and tasty. The aubergine and tomato tortelloni had punch. The white chocolate pannacotta a delightfully elegant way to finish.
But by the time you go the menu will have changed. What won't have changed is the love. It's an 'order two bottles and settle in' kind of place from which, if you're in a window seat, you can plot future meals at Potli or Saigon Saigon directly opposite. But the night will always belong to L'Amarosa, a place Hammersmith people will want to keep secret but absolutely worth the trek if you're from the wrong side of the tracks. A seductive, elegant reward for your intrepidness. read more
