Review on Circolo Popolare
The French group Big Mamma have certainly hit the ground running having opened Gloria in Shoreditch in February 2019, they followed it three months later by opening an even bigger restaurant named Circolo Popolare. A Sicilian trattoria occupying 9,000 sq ft, it's located on Rathbone Place, just off Oxford Street, with 280 covers including 60 seats on their lush plant filled terrace.
Inside there's two rooms featuring an extravagant décor inspired by the Sicilian coast, walls are lined with 20,000 contemporary and vintage spirit bottles, as well numerous posters and paintings, and the ceiling is covered with hanging wisteria entwined with a thousand festoon lights. There's an open kitchen to watch all the hustle and bustle of the chefs at work, intimate booths line the walls and elsewhere there's an assortment of candlelit tables.
The kitchen looks to dishes designed for sharing featuring the likes of their Sardinian empanada, Sa panadedda from Cuglieri filled with delicious juicy pork, Sicilian fennel and arrabiata sauce or maybe opt for one of their one metre long pizzas with a variety of toppings. Other options include scaloppine di vitello, veal escalope strips, grilled courgette, sweet potato, portobello mushrooms, salsa Piemontese burro e salvia from the grill, served with salad and roast potatoes or if you like pasta opt for the crab me by the paccherie, thick-cut home-made paccheri pasta with crab, red gurnard, mussels and tarragon. If you have still got room for dessert, then there's the Circolo sundae consisting of one litre of ice with cookie chunks, churros, brownies and home-made whipped cream.
To accompany the food, the all-Italian wine list has plenty of options by the glass, together with draught beer from Pig & Porter, and cocktails like punch-drunk-love, Plymouth sloe gin, apricot brandy, cranberry earl grey tea, Lambrusco sparkling wine and citrus fruit which will served six to seven people.
Cuisine
Sicilian
Restaurant Opening Times
Breakfast: 8.00am (9.00am Sat & Sun) through
Lunch: until
Dinner: 10.30pm (10.00pm Sun)
Accepted credit cards
Visa, Master Card