Augustus Harris (Bar, Restaurant)

Top 10 things we learned about Augustus Harris bar and restaurant:

1) It’s a Venetian bacaro, which means you’ll find an Italian menu offering small dishes in London’s West End

2) This means you are likely to be sharing whatever you order with your comrades. If you’re not the ‘sharing is caring’ type, best to avoid (and maybe question the type of person you are!)

3) The portions may be small, but the wine is plentiful. We recommend the Sangiovese Chianti. It’s smooth and goes down easy. A little too easy perhaps; we demolished a bottle within an hour

4) Cocktails also have a home here. After the Chianti episode we couldn’t quite manage one, but next visit we’re making a point of trying the Basilico – an elixir of basil vodka, lemon and black pepper

5) The food menu is brief but there are daily specials also sprawled on the blackboard above the bar to add more choice. Not that you’ll struggle to find something to order

6) Food will come as and when it’s ready, which adds to the informal dining. We suggest you start with three or four dishes between two, then order more if you need. Highlights on our visit were Sracciatella cheese (this is a milky soft cheese served with a rosemary focaccia and is a dish I’m positive I could eat happily every day for the rest of my life), anchovy and butter soldiers, and Gorgonzola, pear, grapes and honey crostini

7) The food is such that we’d recommend going even if the restaurant itself was a hole. Luckily it’s not

8) Bouncing flames from candles cast a warming glow over happy faces and there’s a chorus lullaby of hushed voices. The space itself is not particularly big, but it’s nice, like being in a large family kitchen

9) Sit on high stools at the copper bar if you want to chat to the friendly staff. Sit at small wooden tables if you want more privacy or if you want to watch passes by from the large windows. There is a downstairs too so if you have more than one buddy (lucky you), you’re likely to find yourself down there

10) Covent Garden’s Augustus Harris is a lonely island in a sea of central London chain restaurants and bars. Go, get yourself stranded and we promise you’ll enjoy yourself as much as we did...read more