Saturday Brunch at The Providores

Mother restaurant to Kopapa, we've heard so many rave reviews about The Providores in Marylebone Village we had to head over and check it out. With two lovely wing-ladies, a rendezvous was arranged for 10.30am, knowing that the restaurant gets busy, hoping we could get a table in the lower non-book Tapas (known as such because of the Tapas cloths on the walls) portion of the restaurant. We had pretty poor seats as the luck of the draw went, so enquired about getting a table upstairs, enjoying our scrummy Spirulina's in the meantime.

After a wee bit of confusion we were sent upstairs to the where it was much quieter - no loud music  and more formal. The service was fine, nice and unobtrusive without being over attentive.

Overall the food was good; my Turkish Eggs were delicious as usual, the French Toast looked incredible (though a wee bit too Banana heavy) and the "Goats’ curd, baby beets, candied walnuts, char-grilled artichoke, chestnut and pomegranate salad with tamari ginger dressing " looked amazing, though again I think a wee bit small for the price. C'mon peeps, it's a salad for goodness sake; make it a bit more beasty! Presentation was good.

We felt the (undisclosed by the Tapas Room staff) £5ish cover charge unfair as there is also an added 12.5% service charge, but it was offered to be removed at the point of paying when requested.

Verdict? The Providores is Peter Gordon's first baby, with Kopapa a relative newcomer to the fold, but the consensus is that Kopapa is better. More brunch friendly; not as noisy, slightly larger and the food is just as good. Another mark against The Providores - no Date Scones. It doesn't take much to make a happy Kiwi does it! Maybe The Providores is a better evening venue, though it's certainly busy enough.

However the company and conversation was excellent, a lovely way to begin the weekend.