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| . | Booth’s Cafe
Bar and Restaurant Booth’s began life as a dress factory. About four years ago the basement was converted to a bar. It could have been exploited as a quiet cellar wine bar, but it has an idiosyncratic feel, rather like a subterranean nightclub with little alcoves and recesses. It has a rather jolly atmosphere and tends to be full of groups of young people swigging bottles of imported lager or sipping garish cocktails, wisecracking across the room to other tables, oblivious to the piped Indie music. Hassan, the gov’nor and his friends indulgently look on as if he is having a party in his front room. Booth’s has a reasonable selection of beers, including draught Budvar and a long list of cocktails. The night we visited with my young friends, Billy and Elliot, we tried some of the non- alcoholic cocktails. Son of a Peach (£2.95), was considered a bit too creamy, while the raspberry and banana smoothie got a thumbs up.
Above the bar is a large pizzeria, a stylish Mediterranean looking restaurant, which in contrast to the basement, is light and airy. The antipasto (£3.90) was good, with very fresh Mozzarella and grilled vegetables this arrived with garlic impregnated olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My fried calamari (£3.20) was crisply fried but lacked flavour as it was probably frozen. One of my young friends opted for the chips (£1.20), which were thin and crisp and not greasy - they were given a stonking 9/10 and pronounced ‘definitely better than McDonalds.’ There is a large selection of pizzas, both Italian and American, happily lacking deep pans, twister crusts and soggy bottoms. The pizzas are cooked in an open kitchen and are authentically thin and crisp in the Italian style and not overloaded with sauce; in fact they could do with a little more tomato sauce. The Booths special (£5.90) had generous slices of parma ham and was covered with very fresh peppery rocket. The Quarto Stagioni (£5.10) was well received by one of my young pizza experts. My other guest chose the Spaghetti Napoletana (£4.50) which was vast. The other dishes are all very reasonably priced, the most expensive item on the menu being the fillet steak at £9.50. There is a short Italian wine list with a decent Pinot Grigio at £10.90 and Chianti Classico at £9.50. here is a dessert with 10 Italian gateaux at £2.80 and a selection of ice creams served in glass cups. My guests were very impressed by the fact that they were allowed to take the glass cups home. Booth's is child friendly and has tables outside with patio heaters. The restaurant may be booked for private parties.
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