Open daily 8am–11pm
Once an Italian restaurant, Picasso has since been taken over by mini London steak chain Black & Blue. The menu is relatively eclectic, featuring a selection of salads and fish dishes alongside their premium cuts.
The restaurant itself seems to lack a confident identity with an incongruous mix of red leather booths, silver bar, white marble stairs, ill-fitting pink and purple hydrangeas and bland retro-style walls. Its open front is an attractive feature and on a sunny day the alfresco tables fringing the King’s Road are a prime spot. However, at the back of the restaurant on a quiet evening we felt a little lost.
To start, my cousin Eleanor ordered the pan-fried Scottish scallops (£8). The generous portion came attractively served in their shell, bubbling in cheese. The tender meat was saturated with juice and given a tangy hit from the accompanying cheese.
My foie gras with toasted brioche (£9) was pleasantly rich and smooth but lacking in the presentation stakes next to the scallop and a neighbouring diner’s king prawns. The enormous prawns were dripping in succulent garlic butter – a definite case of food envy.
For our mains, we both opted for the fillet steak (£23) and were thoroughly impressed with the high quality, thick cut that arrived at the table amid a wafting cloud of flavourful steam. The char-grilled steak had a deliciously crispy armour surrounding its soft and tender flesh. The rich, smoky flavour cut effortlessly through the accompanying garlic butter. Each steak also came with a generous salad of crunchy iceberg lettuce and satisfying walnuts in a creamy house dressing.
To wash down our steaks, we selected a good value cabernet sauvignon from Chile (£20); the oaky undertones and hint of spice were warming and worked well with the char-grilled meat. We were happy with their wine menu which offered Prosecco from £5 a glass and a variety of wines by the glass from £6.
Despite the restaurant’s undefined identity and unfortunate lack of atmosphere, the food on our visit was fantastic; good value, good variety and well executed. As our charming waitress wafted past us with arms of other deliciously aromatic dishes we were hit by the urge to return.
Meal for two with wine around £100.