The Guardian
Grace Dent did something most serious restaurant critics studiously avoid by reviewing the latest opening from Paris-based Big Mamma Group – which like the others is “unashamedly focused on big, sexy, silly and Italian-inspired fun”, this time with “a large scoop of Gaga does House of Gucci”.
“Why are clever food people so sniffy about Big Mamma, despite its restaurants being full to the brim every night?” Grace wondered rhetorically, before providing the answer: “let’s cut to the chase – the food in all of these restaurants isn’t always terribly good and is sometimes actively awful.”
Perhaps you have to be “a bit tipsy” to enjoy them, she suggested: “Lunching here stone-cold sober is a real eye-opener.” “Barbarella, like all of these places, is about escapism, boisterous group dining and being swept up in the moment” – with someone else paying the bill.
Grace Dent - 2025-07-20
