Apero Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in London

Tucked beneath The Ampersand Hotel, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Apero is run of the mill. As you descend the polished wooden staircase, you soon realise that it’s anything but. A curio of Mediterranean bowls, wooden utensils and conch shells are all warmly backlit to welcome you into the vaulted cellars of one of South Kensington’s most interesting hotels. ‘An all-day neighbourhood brasserie’, Apero is overseen by Head Chef Chris Golding whose mission is to serve up unpretentious, seasonal food in a relaxed atmosphere. And deliver he does.

The restaurant is perfectly intimate with coffee-coloured wood furniture set against white tiles and brickwork. Small snugs are cloaked by heavy velvet curtains, but if you’re feeling a little informal, you can sit up at the bar and chat to the barman as he shakes you up one of their delicious cocktails.

We started with the Frescobaldi (Sipsmith gin, Limoncello and Fino sherry) and the Quattro Fiumi (aged bourbon, Cointreau, lychee, strawberries, rose syrup, lemon, black pepper and balsamic syrup). Intriguingly named, all Apero’s cocktails are influenced by artists found in the nearby Victoria & Albert Museum, and their quests for enlightenment. With an achingly fresh citrus burst, a perfectly balanced fruity cocktail that had a bit of a kick, and lashings of warm, homemade rosemary and onion bread with apple balsamic vinegar, we were certainly of the same school of thought.

Ravenous, we turned to the menu. Channelling Mediterranean influences, the food is designed to be shared. They recommend two or three reasonably priced dishes each or instead, go for the chef’s selection of his signature dishes like us and be prepared to eat like kings.

To start, stracciatella (a cheese similar to mozzarella) with beetroot. Cubes of delicate yet tangy beetroot and swirls of vivid, fresh pink worked perfectly with the creamy cheese was a perfect way to open the meal. We had ours with an Aperol Spritz on the side - a fizzy little number with a bittersweet warmth.

Then came the fish course. A beautiful plate of seared yellow fin tuna, with avocado and lemon, and a salad of fresh French beans and kohlrabi. This dish was perfectly balanced - the succulent tuna coupled with the citrus zing of the pureed avocado - but perhaps a touch underseasoned. We devoured it greedily, though, and would have happily asked for seconds.

For the meat, lamb. A very generous dish of braised meat, cooked the exact right shade of pink, roasted baby fennel, artichokes and chanterelle mushrooms, topped with crunchy, sweet pomegranate seeds. It came with the smoothest and butteriest of mashed potatoes that were the perfect accompaniment to the main affair. If I’m honest, I’m not a big fan of lamb and I did struggle to eat my share but my companion (another who’s not entirely sold on the meat) dove straight in and admitted he was a total convert. Points for Apero, indeed. I will say that the veggie accompaniments were just perfect and I’ve taken away a couple of ideas to recreate at home.

At this point, as you may imagine, we were no longer ravenous but who could resist the allure of pudding? Definitely not me. A toffee mousse with a dark chocolate crumb, served with the freshest of rosewater sorbets, and a piece of gold leaf, any initial satiation was completely forgotten, of course, as this was one decadent dessert. Accompanying was an enviously ripe wedge of Fougerus, a cheese from the Brie family, that came with the thinnest of oat biscuits, quince jelly and tart apple slices.

As we sipped our coffees and loosened our metaphorical belts, we thought back on the feast we’d consumed. A wickedly satisfying journey through Europe, the menu at Apero touches on different elements from different countries and combines them with an attractive playfulness. Fresh, seasonal ingredients are Golding’s forte and he’s taken care to show off what he can do with them. We began as naive tourists and left as...

Apero is a gorgeous all-day Mediterranean brasserie and cocktail bar, within the Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington. It is light and bright, with a modern, minimalist and sophisticated interior and radiates the mediterranean vibes with its bright primary colours, off-set with metallics, and tiled flooring. The friendly service and overall atmosphere give a welcoming and relaxed aura – just what you’re after for a slow afternoon bottomless brunch in Kensington.

The “Pranzo Della Nonna” brunch is translated to ‘An Afternoon at Grandma’s’. You are meant to feel as though you’re with family, enjoying plenty of food and drinks! We can confirm, plenty of food is exactly what this menu provides.

The menu is inspired by seasonal ingredients and is designed to be shared (£22.50 per person). It currently features:

a homemade focaccia with olive tapenade and oil Burrata with chicory and blood orange a charcuterie selection mix grilled vegetables mixed leaf salad polenta, fennel sausage & radicchio seafood risotto tart of the day

The homemade focaccia with olive tapenade and oil was served warm in a cast iron dish. It was salty, with a fab texture and taste. The olive tapenade in the oil was absolutely delicious. We couldn’t get enough!

The Burrata with chicory and blood orange looked beautiful and tasted fantastic. It was deliciously creamy, and complimented well by the drops of blood orange. The crunchy, fresh chicory and small slice of bruschetta completed this starter well. We really enjoyed this dish!

The charcuterie selection was larger than expected. It was piled with a good selection of delicious fresh cold meats, as well as arancini, cheese and cauliflower. Unfortunately, the arancini wasn’t really anything special, but the cheese and meat, as well as a delicious sweet onion chutney definitely made up for it.

The seafood risotto was deliciously creamy, yet rich and spiced in flavour. It was a great risotto, with plenty of shellfish and squid, all cooked perfectly.

The polenta, fennel sausage & radicchio was a little different. The polenta, served as a semolina-style dish, didn’t have much flavour. However, the rich, herby fennel sausage was super tasty and packed with flavour, and alongside the radicchio made this dish better.

To finish off, the tart of the day is a sweet option. When we visited it was a delicious, creamy, red cherry-style tart, with a caramelized sugar top. It was incredible! Served with a little vanilla ice cream, it really rounded off the brunch, finishing on a complete high.

Alongside all of this food, the menu offers the option to go bottomless (£37.50pp). This offer covers prosecco, mimosas and Aperol Spritz. We loved the fact you could opt for Aperol Spritz which we haven’t seen elsewhere, and you can mix and match so you don’t have to stick to the same drink. The Aperol Spritz is made perfectly – it had that signature taste which all too often do people get the ratio wrong.

It really is bottomless too – the hosts were always checking in. If we felt they hadn’t popped back for a while we just left our empty glasses on the end of the table and they soon noticed.

Apero is a beautiful, relaxed location where you really do feel at home. We had a private booth which was a great touch. The food was fantastic, the drinks choice was great and the service was super friendly and attentive. It’s definitely a fantastic and affordable bottomless brunch...

Visited for the Jurassic afternoon tea, and while the service was fine (the waiters were all very nice, although they didn't seem to be allocated to particular sections), the food was absolutely not worth the final bill. The four mini savouries were mostly a bit bland, apart from the salmon blinis (about the size of a 10 pence piece sadly) which were salty and delicious, although the mini quiche was nice as well. The desserts were similarly inoffensive, but nothing to write home about (the inevitable macaron, a mini baked alaska, a light mousse and a "dinosaur nest", but lacked a little polish in the details. The scones were...fine, although it wasn't clear why the lemon curd (which was more like a custard) was served in a tube, and the clotted cream won't satisfy anyone expecting proper, thick Cornish clotted cream. There were some little added extras (test tubes of toppings to add to the scones) but they weren't gamechanging from either a taste or experience perspective. One thing that is quite good is the cocktail bundle - an additional £15 for 3 cocktails, which were all rather tasty. One waiter did come round and asked if we wanted a refill on any of the food but seemed surprised when we took him up on his offer, and despite asking for extra blini and quiche, only a single blini eventually turned up.

I hate to say discourage people from going to eateries especially when it's really difficult to run a restaurant of any kind at the moment, but this is an expensive experience and unfortunately as nice as the cocktails were, it was not an £85 per head (rounded up when it came time to pay) experience in terms of the amount or quality of food served. At that sort of price point, you can get excellent, filling multi-course meals in any number of restaurants, including in some of Soho's most popular venues.

Children might enjoy the look, and the little "surprise" extra at the end of the meal, but adults will probably be...