Theo Randall @ The Intercontinental London Park Lane, England, United Kingdom

After having mixed experiences at Theo Randall's one year earlier we decided to give it a new try after the restaurant went through a full transformation and renovation in late 2015/early 2016.

The space had considerable brightened and looked much more contemporary and rustic with wood panelling and interesting light features.

The acoustic had also improved. It wasn't as loud as before. It could have had also to do with there being mostly couples.

The welcome was much warmer than last time around. We were promptly brought to our table, which was large, wooden and squared.

We had given the vouchers for two glasses of Prosecco we had received at check in to the maître d' and the Prosecco arrived promptly.

Our bottle of Acqua Panna and the Three Moons Cocktail with Masala and fig-thyme syrup were next. The cocktail was very strong and nuanced. It was delightful.

The greetings from the kitchen was bruschetta, which we already knew from our first visit and loved. It's one of the best we had so far, besides the one we enjoyed at the Hilton Dublin Airport.

We ordered insalata mista and beef carpaccio with zuccini as starters. Both were delicious.

Our main courses included sea trout with datterini tomatoes, aubergine, peppers, courgette, capers and Tagliatesch olives and parpadelle a la ragout (slow simmered beef in Chianti) and Parmesan cheese. The fish dish was colorful and had all the Mediterranean flavors I imagined it would have. The parpadelle were an indulgence.  It was rich and moreish. He had ordered the appetizer size, remembering from our first time visit that the portions were generous.

Dessert rounded up our meal with the infamous Amalfi lemon tart and one torta caprese, a chocolate almond cake with almond ice cream. The lemon tart is my fiancé’s favorite dessert at Theo Randall's. He liked the tart and sweet flavor combination. My torta caprese was generous in size too and delicious, but felt slightly too large.

Service was warm and attentive. We had also the chance to chat with the restaurant manager about the renovation and could compliment him for good service, better design and even improved food, which tasted even better than a year earlier.

The bill was 105.75 GBP, ca. 118.60 Euro or ca. 129.60 USD.

When we visit London again in our future and look for an upscale Italian meal we would gladly return to Theo Randall at the Intercontinental London Park Lane for our dinner.

©2016

Classic Restaurant @ The Mercedes Benz Museum Stuttgart, Germany

When we planned our visit to the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart (Please see also review.) we thought we would be hungry and made a reservation at Classic. The restaurant is housed in the same building as the musuem on the lowest level and is connected via walkway to the Mercedes Benz showroom.

Originally we thought we could leave the exhibition and have lunch, but realized this wasn't possible, so we decided to have our lunch when we had finished with the museum.

We apologized for our late arrival, but it wasn't a problem. It seems we weren't the first to underestimate the size of the exhibition.

The menu was available online, so we had checked it already and knew what was on offer and had budgeted our lunch already.

The design was like the building, it is contemporary with a lot of glass and steel. Classic is located partly in an atrium and has also an outdoor seating area.

We were brought to our table. It was not directly under the glass cupola and floor to ceiling window. We were glad, because we thought thanks to the hot weather and intense sunshine it would be too hot there, but it was very memorable and relaxing instead.

The restaurant had a few guests sitting by the window, a family with adult sons, and couples.

Classic serves international and regional cuisine.

Our waitress was very friendly and efficient.

We ordered a large bottle of still water, one glass of Laurent-Perrier Champagne and a Hugo, Wiener Schnitzel, Maultaschen (Swabian Ravioli) and Ofenschlupfer, a Swabian dessert with raisins.

The atmosphere was very good, the food and drink delicious and high quality.

We paid 59 Euro (ca. 65.25 USD).

Of course we would return. It's in fact so good, it's worth going there even without visiting the Mercedes Benz Museum.

©2015