Bernardi’s Restaurant and Bar

I’ve been there twice in the last 2 weeks with friends. Food is well prepared. Squid appetizer is delightful with a nice hint of Asian chili. The flank steak and Lamb mains are grilled to perfection and delicious with a rocket and Parmesan salad. The Panna Cotta dessert is excellent. Local «in» crowd fills this place up so you should make a reservation.

I went for brunch there. Very nice atmosphere. The food was really good but the portions were very small. Staff is very nice and efficient.

Italian restaurant Bernardi’s impressed me with beautiful, tasty food and outstanding, friendly staff. Would I go again? Of course!
When I arrived at Bernardi’s in Marylebone, just off Edgware Road, on a Saturday evening, the place already was fairly busy. The very friendly guy at the door checked the bookings and went out of his way to find me a spot — although just for an hour. Still, after being sent away by another new, French restaurant that did not even check the bookings, I highly appreciated the effort.
I like the style, Bernardi’s is a beautiful, light, modern restaurant with a simple design that pleases the eye.
After settling down at a nice table in the corner, I browsed through the wine list. I was looking for a white wine, and the waiter asked a few questions and then recommended the 2014 Verdeca, «Askos» Masseria Li Veli Apulia. Not a bad choice — it was probably a bit too fruity or sweet for my palate, but the slight minerality made it still enjoyable, just as the waiter had told me.
Not long after my wine arrived, a basket of thin crunchy Italian flatbread with something like a tomato, parmesan and basil dip came along. I appreciate a good slice of soft bread, but those crispy bites were also a great way to start a meal and bridge the time until the first course of the evening was ready.
I had ordered the burratina antipasti with heritage beetroot, almonds and basil. The dish looked stunning, bright colours — green, red, yellow — beautifully arranged around the white cheese with finely sliced almonds sprinkled across the plate. All components individually tasted nice and fresh, forming a delicious symphony of flavours when combined. The burratina was smooth and soft, the funny heritage beetroots added a refrehsing fruityness with the almonds throwing in some salty texture. I must admit, I wondered about those pieces in different colours on my plate — I soon found out that heritage beetroots come in various colours, a nice touch.
My main that evening was tarragon gnocchi with rabbit ragu and pancetta. The plate was hot when it arrived and looked as beautiful as did my antipasti. Recently, I started to appreciate rabbit more and more, it is a light kind of meat with a great taste to it. The only detail marginally impeding the delight was a piece of bone hidden within the ragout — not sure whether that was intentional or not. I also was surprised to see that the gnocchi looked like they were pan-​fried. However, I did enjoy the minor crunch effect it added together with the crumble. As with any Italian dish, or anything really, freshly grated parmesan made this course even more tasty than it would already had been without.
So far, antipasti and main course were great successes with me. It was probably no easy task to top this with a dessert, and unfortunately, the milk chocolate mousse with hazelnut was somewhat disappointing. I had been hoping for a stronger chocolate flavour. Still, I did like how nice and nutty it was.
After a little chat with a lovely Italian waitress, who happens to live in London for five years — just like me — I finished off my dinner with a bitter, Italian espresso. Not my favourite style of coffee, but I guess what people expect at an Italian restaurant.
If you ask me, Bernardi’s in Marylebone is a great restaurant delivering on flavour and service. Next time, I should also try one of their cocktails.

Having lived in Italy and traveled the country extensively I feel perfectly qualified to say that the team at Bernardi’s seriously know what they’re doing. Despite its Marylebone location and upscale feel, there’s absolutely nothing pretentious about the food here. It’s classic Italian food done as your momma would cook it… if your momma was a world class chef with serious flair! Every dish we had was perfectly executed and utterly delicious. Worth a special mention is the rabbit gnocchi, which was mind blowing. And the prices were more than reasonable too. We will be returning. A lot!