Circolo Popolare Fitzrovia

It’s been over a week since I ate at Circolo and I still don’t know if I liked it.

I can’t tell if it’s because of pregnancy food aversions that kicked in during our visit, if I ordered badly, some horrible news I received as my main arrived or because actually it’s just all a bit much. Circolo is brought to us by the same restaurant group that brought us Gloria which I wrote a rave review about recently. everything is OTT. I think that’s their thing.

What I will say is they know how to deck out a restaurant. Circolo looks fantastic, like a beautiful retro eurotrash nostalgia trip. The walls are lined with hundreds of bottles of booze. The menu design is kitch as hell. My mocktail arrived in a mermaids tail. It’s a spectacle to behold. And probably worth a visit based on this alone as long as you’re prepared to queue.

Now. The food. *Larry David shrug* ok so the caprese salad was solidly good but it needed more mozzarella in it, it was almost entirely tomato. I’m not convinced about the stuffed bread stick or the truffle shuffle pizza. It was just too truffly. Like I just couldn’t cope. It was the wrong side of obscenity in food and I couldn’t finish it. The deep fried courgette flowers which they’d named beignets were absolutely not beignets and just a bit blah. It could be best to stick to the big hitters on the menu than to be brave.

What’s good? The lemon meringue pie, the huge bowl of pasta in a freaking cheese wheel to share, the beef carpaccio pizza which is currently a special and the vibe. Sorry I said vibe.

Kid friendly? Yep. More so than Gloria anyway. More space. High chairs. Several kiddos spotted out at dinner on a Sunday night. FYI though, some stairs at the entrance.

✔️baby change facilities

✓highchairs available

✓cool with breastfeeding

✓loads of other parents

✓space for buggies

✗children’s menu

✗toys/play area

Rating ???

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