Sarastro

Description:

• The setting here makes you feel like you're in the prop room of an opera house. As the manager says, "We're the show after the show." The decor is sort of neo-Ottoman, and the cuisine celebrates the bounty of the Mediterranean, especially Turkey and Cyprus. In a Victorian building behind the Theatre Royal, the restaurant is decorated with battered urns, old lamps, fading lampshades, and knickknacks -- it looks like an old Turkish curiosity shop. Ten opera boxes adorn the restaurant; the royal box is the most desired. The restaurant takes its name from a character in Mozart's The Magic Flute. Live opera performances are staged from time to time. You can begin your meal with such starters as grilled Mediterranean prawns with garlic mushrooms, or stuffed grape leaves and hummus. The best mains include a filet or sirloin steak with a red wine sauce, lamb meatballs, or perhaps fettuccine with cream, mushrooms and Parma ham. The fish dishes are fresh, including grilled lemon sole and monkfish with tomatoes and onions.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010