It’s now almost impossible to imagine that this was the boozer once featured on Chris Evans’ anarchic 1990s show TFI Friday. Or indeed its latter day incarnation, The Havers, an earthy respite from the upscale chains uphill, and the palatial villas in the sidestreets.
Ballaro opened at the end of last year after months of renovation. Suitably named after the famous market in Palermo, it’s schtick is upmarket Sicilian, with an emphasis on vegetables and fish dishes. It’s “neighbourhood”, without feeling parochial – with a splash of unexpected Knightsbridge glamour too, courtesy of the grown-up dining room, all lime leather banquettes, Tuscan slate floors and large windows.
Some of the reviews have drawn attention to the conservative atmosphere that pervades the streets of this part of NW3 – for more on the area, read our accompanying guide here – but on our chilly Tuesday evening visit the restaurant is full. Sure, the crowd is hipster-light and refreshingly beard-free, but the mostly mature diners are all whooping it up in groups of four over prosecco and endless wines-by-the-glass.
As we sit down, the initial frostiness of the maitre d’ is replaced by an admission that his English is not very good. He is from Puglia, and still trying to get his head round the various London accents. But he is gracious and smiley.
The food is Italian in both its power and deceptive simplicity – “I refuse to use cream,” Carmelo tells us at the end of the meal. Sicilian calamari are tender and crisp, but the twist is that they’re paired with chickpea pancakes; better still is creamy burrata with baby plum tomatoes – the first of the season. Chitarrine (a homemade spaghetti) with osso buco the stand-out pasta dish, packed with the hit of thyme and Nero d’avola (of which, incidentally, we also drink a fine bottle from the good list of Sicilian wines).
Less dazzling is a piece of sea bass with caponata (the ratatouille-style cooked aubergine salad), but only because it comes before a climactic pillowy pink rack of lamb, its sweet tenderness matched by pumpkin and offset by mellow braised radiccio. This is the dish to return for.
It’s still busy with small, well-heeled groups celebrating birthdays as we cram in a vanilla panna cotta with assorted fruits. We glimpse the good-value £12.50 two-course lunch menu – and vow, next time, to come back for that.
