Bella Cosa – Review

An Italian restaurant with a Japanese chef in Canary Wharf owned by  a Sri Lankan telecoms company. Did it really make sense to cross town on a freezing January night for a place that sounded like globalisation on a plate… Then Apple Maps saw fit to ditch me in the middle of a building site, so by the time I arrived at Bella Cosa I was freezing and not best pleased. However after an authentic Italian welcome from the manager and a glass of champagne my equilibrium was soon restored.
The restaurant perches on the quayside with fabulous views and has a clean modern look with marble floors, a couple of private rooms and sexy retro 70s Venetian light fittings all adding to the effect. Executive Chef, Kentaro Torii’s states that his mission is to ‘combine fine-dining Italian cuisine with exquisite Japanese presentation’ and I am intrigued to see if he can pull either or both off.
We started with canapés including a deep-fried mini margherita pizza, a wonderful stockfish (dried cod) with squid ink blackened polenta, and burratina (chopped burrata with herbs). These were a little underwhelming.

Much more interesting was a beautifully light celeriac foam covered with slivers of back truffle and the crunch of truffle chips. This dish was sublime.

Seafood carpaccio was smoky, salty and sexy-a bit like me on a good day…Red prawn, tuna, kingfish, anchovies, octopus mackerel, lemon purée and caviar jostled for position in this jewel box of flavours. The first of our glasses of matched wine, a Vigor Pasarina made from the Pasarina grape from Le Marche in Italy, had a good level of acidity.

Perfectly roasted Monkfish came with a tomato and olive crust and grilled cabbage and sat upon an authentically al dente serving of seafood fregola, the Sardinian mega couscous, all washed down with a fresh and mineral glass of Kaltern, a classic Chardonnay from Trentino. This was a mature dish of simple ingredients with flavours that sung out in perfect harmony.

Another hit was a nest of home-made tagliolini slathered with a sauce of mullet bottarga, Cornish crab and sea urchin and a bitter, rapini pesto giving the dish uncompromisingly piscine and vegetal flavour-proper grown-up food.  Pieropan Soave Classico from the Veneto made with Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave grapes was a suitably fresh accompaniment.

Pan-fried lemon sole was served with winter vegetables and a bagna cauda (anchovy and garlic) sauce.I found the fish a little overdone but that is the Italian style- a Colutta Pinot Grigio was refreshing and didn’t overpower the fish.

Fiona enjoyed her dish of double cooked pork belly and mushrooms describing the meat as meltingly beautiful.  A glass of Chianti Classico Lamole di Lamole 2010 added cherry and red berry notes to the mix.

Clementine carpaccio was served with Campari jelly, lemon sorbet and prosecco foam-a refreshingly deconstructed Campari Spritz by any other name.

Monte Bianco or ‘Mont Blanc in the Snow’ is one of my favourite desserts next only to sweet chestnut puree eaten straight out of the tin… with meringue ‘ice’shards over chestnut, marron glacé, chocolate and hazelnut. To accompany we drank a wonderful Passito de Pantilleria, a rich raisiny moscato from Italy’s southernmost island. As well as a serious and intriguing wine selection, the restaurant has a dedicated Artisan Beer Corner with specially trained beer sommeliers advising on food matching. The team at Bella Cosa seem really committed to the quality and individuality of their offer. In the summer the room will be lit up with light but right now it’s worth going for the food and drink.