Carlotta

Carlotta is unapologetically over the top. Big booths, big ego, big mafioso meets high-end strip club energy. The Italian spot in Marylebone is busy with people taking pictures of themselves in all the mirrored surfaces and the more-is-more space. Every surface is decorated with pink silk drapes and vintage photos, and to eat here is to be wrapped up in a loud, lavish world.

The food, like any proper diva, is temperamental but fun. A ridiculous but tasty wedding cake is unsheathed at the table and dolloped onto plates in a mess of marshmallows and strawberry jam. A chicken parmigiana oozes cheese but looks better than it tastes. Our go-to order is the spaghetti with juicy meatballs in a slightly spicy sauce, which is always solidly good. But style over taste is what you come to expect from a Big Mamma restaurant (of Ave Mario and Circolo Popolare fame), and somewhere where the bathroom taps have a virgin Mary sitting on top of them. But it’s worth booking for a birthday blowout when sensory overload and photographing yourself are the priorities.

photo credit: Sam Harris

photo credit: Jerome Galland

photo credit: Jerome Galland