It took about 30 seconds for the jokes referring to the replacement of the r to a d in the name of the restaurant to materialise, but as none of them were funny, the punchline was probably a reflection on those making the jokes (I can’t escape the fact that I was one of them, hence the insertion of probably)! 

Whilst it’s fairly common for Indian restaurants to specify the area within the sub-continent in which their food specialises, I can’t say I’ve noticed many Italian restaurants doing the same. Sardo, as you can work out easily enough, specialises in Sardinian Cuisine, which is definitely a trend I’d like to see followed, or even started, considering the diversity of Italian cuisine.

Sardo sits in a street just off the top end of Tottenham Ct Rd, in the North Eastern part of Fitzrovia. The décor suggests upmarket bistro, with a prevalence of cream & dark wood, but with a bar & special’s blackboard sitting alongside the edge of the main room.

The bread and olives seemed to indicate a touch of quality & diversity, especially with the flatbread, which I was surprised to see. On reflection, though, considering the proximity of North Africa to it’s shores I guess flatbread being a Sardinian staple was not quite as surprising as being charged £1.50 a head for the bread & olives, a practice I haven’t seen in a long time.

Still being in a red meat kind of mood, I thought I’d at least try and sample a fish dish to start, considering that’s what Sardinian cuisine mainly consists of, and went for the Tartara di Tonno. This Tuna Tartare was well presented and well seasoned, with a sweet (onion I think) relish to complement the peppery rocket and oily tuna flesh. I liked it, but didn’t think it stood out, particularly.

The mains consisted of Tagliata di Manzo (fillet steak) for me and the special rack of lamb for Mr S & Mr W. My steak came with pan fried potatoes & spinach, all of which was well cooked, particularly the potatoes which were crispy on the outside and soft & fluffy on the inside. The rack of lamb also seemed to go down without any complaints, but without rave reviews, either. We skipped dessert as we were more interested in getting to the pub (apart from Mr W, who seems to think a few weeks on the wagon will do him some good. I always think that a dry January is the last resort of an alcoholic in denial!).

When I walked out of the door, I felt that I quite liked Sardo and thought that it was a nice, off the beaten track type of restaurant. The service was good, the food was good and I liked the atmosphere, although thought it probably better suited a romantic couple than 3 mates. However, looking back, none of the dishes were that cheap (my starter was only 10p short of a tenner, with the mains in the high teens) and none really stood out as ones that would be worth making a real effort to go back and eat again. Overall, I think the food was overpriced and Sardo definitely gets a black mark for charging for bread & olives on top of these high prices. It’s not a restaurant I would avoid going back to, especially as I didn’t really explore the seafood element and that’s where Sardinian expertise probably shines through. However, Sardo is not somewhere I would actively seek out to go back to either, which probably says it all!