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Light Brigade Restaurant, The

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

It's been a landmark on Oxford Street for donkey's years, but the Light Brigade's first floor Dining Room and Bar is looking pretty snappy and fresh after a recent refurbishment. The design has brought out the Art Deco architecture which is charmingly quirky in places - there's a round peep hole in the floor of the landing that seems to serve no other purpose than allowing you to view what's happening on the floors below, and you could easily mistake the bathroom for another of the bar's lounge areas. The staff are a well-qualified lot on the whole, with a manager from Bistro Moncur and sommelier from Gazebo Wine Garden. Silvana Parisi is in the kitchen and, although it shouldn't matter, it's great to see a female chef in this male-dominated industry. Her menu is contemporary with strong Italian influence and makes good use of local produce. Hardly groundbreaking, but it's good food and satisfying to eat.

Our entrees were like night and day - punchy linguine of Moreton Bay bug with bold flavours of chilli and roasted cherry tomatoes; versus a floaty and ladylike crab and prawn remoulade held together by light mayonnaise and perfumed with cucumber water. Our duck breast and blue eye mains were pleasing enough (the latter served on large globes of cous cous) but I would order from the grill next time. Still, the waiter's recommendation of a side of baby green beans was spot on, as were the beans. Ditto for our Victorian Pinot Gris. I was nicely surprised to see rabbit on the menu; vegetarians however should dine elsewhere. By the time we finished our desserts (the self-saucing chocolate pudding is divine, especially with true vanilla bean ice-cream) the adjacent bar was amiably noisy, tempting us to one of the many couches for another drink.

Sarah Theeboom, February 2008