Idalia Restaurant – Review

I was too young to catch Jimi Hendrix or Pink Floyd but back in ’92 I did see The Cure at Olympia; a grandiose name for a cavernous airplane type hangar in central London’s Western outreaches. The venue is long gone but the space upon which it stood is now the site of London’s most anticipated regeneration. After an estimated £1.3 billion spend, the ‘All-new Olympia’ is, according to its website, the home of ‘what’s next.’ Of all the bars, restaurants, shops, venues, etc Idalia, on its periphery, is the first to open. 

Literally metres from Olympia tube station, Idalia is located on the ground floor of Pilar Hall, which in its basement houses Pepperbird, a slick and ‘secret’ speakeasy and on its first floor, a private hire banquet hall for over five hundred guests. The booking email requests ‘smart-elegant dress code,’ the need for which isn’t immediately obvious from the clean-bricked yet sober exterior. But once inside, a long marble-tiled corridor hung with pictures of famous alumni (including Robert Smith) suggests ceremony if not regality. At its end, a receptionist wearing an elegant and yellow 50s type ball gown exudes warmth and style. She escorts us to the room’s central oval bar, the top of which is an orange perspex and glows like the tip of a burning cigarette. 

It’s no exaggeration to say there’s nowhere quite like Idalia in London and perhaps, therefore, the world. Nature seems to have colluded with contemporary design to provide a fin de siècle extravagance. With as much greenery as Kew Gardens, it’s like the setting of an early JG Ballard novel, The Drowned World, maybe; with vegetation but before the floods. Greenery grows up to the ceiling, falls down from the ceiling, spills over the perfectly subdued lighting, almost onto the white table cloths and bronze lamps and obscures one swathe of the dining room from another. Eight Corinthian columns provide formidable structure and the heavily moulded white ceiling with cornices a-go-go has unusually but effectively been decorated with large and loud golden abstractions.

The space housed Vivienne Westwood’s first ever fashion show so large fashion type paintings decorate walls and in every partially stained glass window alcove, a female bust shows off various hats, sunglasses and accessories. Many of the cocktails are also fashion related so that a Viviennetta, a Zandra Royale, a Bazaar and a Golden Seam reference Vivienne Westwood, Zandra Rhodes, Mary Quant and Stella McCartney, respectively. We opt for a Coates & Seely sparkling wine as we generally gawk at and take in our surroundings but make no mistake, whilst Idalia reveres its past, it’s also very much a celebration of its present.

Staff are friendly and knowledgeable to a fault and apparently, Daniel, the assistant manager, is so fond of the Crab Salad starter that he sometimes sneaks in when he’s not working and orders two. I can share his enthusiasm. Served in practically a Botticelli-sized, gold plated seashell, the mix of mango, red pepper and ginger is full on flavoursome but light and pure, too. Slices of what look like cabbage but which are actually coconut finish off what will surely be a crowd pleaser. With less flourish but even a purer aesthetic is the Wye Valley Asparagus which comes with no more than a hen’s egg and pour-your-own hollandaise sauce. The latter is thicker than the norm with a dominant lemon tang which encourages the asparagus’ late spring/early summer essence.

Mains are a tough call between Lobster Linguine and Miso Crusted Black Cod or sharing a Whole Spice flamed Turbot. We opt for the latter and are entranced by its de-skinning and de-boning in front of us – such is the care and attention devoted to both that the fish could be being defibrillated. About the size of a 12” record, there is a mess of skin and bones but also a great deal of chunky, succulent white meat. It comes with a Shichimi Togarashi butter sauce which is a seven flavour spice mix and includes nutmeg, clove and coriander. Fish comes with a generous portion of seaweed and a Tatsoi and Pickled Daikon salad. The latter’s cherry and blood orange vinegar dressing offsets the slightly earthy flavoured Turbot and we drink Casal Caeiro Albariño, which is clean and citrus-y.

If restaurants these days necessarily have to court the magic of Instagram, it’s safe to say that point your phone anywhere and Idalia will look spectacular. But it won’t take long, surely, for the dessert’s must have Vivienne Heel to go viral. Inspired again by Ms Westwood, the dessert bears more than a passing resemblance to The Devil Wears Prada poster. But that’s a high heel, right? Right! Gimmicky? Maybe. Devilishly delightful? Absolutely! A six-inch red stiletto made from a mix of milk and white chocolate has to be a luxury most people never dreamed they wanted or needed but here it is, and with its own wooden hammer to crack open the chocolate, it’s an extravagance for two. Don’t eat the daisies but do eat everything else. It’s served with skinned and refrigerated cherries and a green leaf which looks a little like watercress but tastes like lemon grass. Raspberry and strawberry purée fill the heel’s inside so that for shoe fetishists and everyone else, it’s a sweet way to end the meal.

Fashion crowd or non-fashion crowd, Idalia offers a visual grandeur to wow and delight all who enter its magical space. With a menu and execution to match and friendly and attentive staff, it’ll surely become this Summer’s talk of the town. With three hundred covers, it’s big but best book now to avoid disappointment. 

Go on! Book it!