From Belgravia to Heathrow

Saturday, September 02nd , 2023

Cantinetta Antinori is the first UK opening of a small group of restaurants run by the Antinori wine family from Tuscany. The Belgravia location is smartly decorated and the staff were particularly charming when we visited. The food is good and the only real caveat is the price, which is high, and with the wine list being very aggressively marked up. This is all the more a pity as only Antinori wines feature, so if a wine is, say, 3.5 times retail price than imagine what the true mark up to their cost price must be, given that there is no importer or wholesaler to deal with. Other than the price it was a very enjoyable experience. 

Madhu’s Heathrow is the sister of Madhu’s in Southall. It is a smartly decorated, sprawling affair serving a broadly similar Punjabi menu to the other restaurants in the group. The robata grill here means that some dishes have a pleasing smokiness from the charcoal, such as the tandoori lamb chops. The cooking is consistently good here and there are plenty of local Asian families that eat here in addition to passing Sheraton hotel guests.