Antico Restaurant & Lounge Bar

My friend recently showed me a NY Times article where Bermondsey Street restaurants, pubs and shops were featured, including the charming Antico. This lovely restaurant opened up kitty corner to the Bermondsey Square Hotel. It only opened up earlier this year -- in fact we remember peering in frosty windows during the New Year holidays to see a large family (presumably the owners) sharing dish after dish of steaming hot Italian food. They looked so happy, and the restaurant was so warm and inviting, we couldn't wait until it officially opened. Goodness knows why it took us half a year to finally go there, but it was worth the wait.

The ground floor -- which is the main restaurant -- is fully accessible. The lounge, however, is downstairs with no lift access that we could see. Wheeling in the restaurant is easy since there are no raised thresholds. We went for Saturday brunch, and there were only a few other tables when we first arrived. The hostess was lovely and gave us the option to sit anywhere we chose. She swiftly removed a chair to make space for the wheelchair with no fuss at all, which is always a good sign.

I had a goats cheese and spinach frittata, and Chazz had the eggs florentine. Both were splendid. I was expecting mine to be made with thinly sliced potatoes, but the error was mine as I must have been thinking of the Spanish-style dish. In any event, the ingredients were fresh and delicious, and the seasoning perfect. Chazz's hollandaise sauce was particularly good. The portion size looked average, but neither of us could finish our plates in the end. 

The service, though extremely friendly, was slow when it came to bringing the bill. A small complaint since we were seated so promptly and our meals came out quickly and the food was hot. By the time we left the restaurant was quite full, a good sign on an early Saturday. 

We loved the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was immaculately clean and bright, and the tables all had  crisp white linens. The exposed brickwork and cool music created a youthful atmosphere. Hats off to the NY Times for highlighting such a great restaurant right on our doorstep. Photos will follow, but as it has not stopped raining for three months we haven't had the right lighting for a while.