Locanda Locatelli

If it is top-end, sophisticated, authentic Italian food you are after, head for Giorgio Locatelli's West End gaff. It has a moneyed look but an atmosphere that is charmingly unaffected, helped by the engaging staff who combine the best of Italian passion with real knowledge of the menu. A safe distance from the craziness of Oxford Street, the restaurant, a separate business on the ground floor of a luxury hotel, has a sleek, contemporary design, with cream leather banquette seating or comfortable cream leather tub chairs and round tables with smart settings. It's stylish without being showy. The authentic Italian cooking combines the rusticity of peasant-style dishes with more refined techniques, and it's a winning combination. Oxtail ravioli is made with pasta that's as good as you might hope, while fillet of wild sea bass in a salt and herb crust is a main course of real impact (both in terms of presentation and superb flavours). For dessert, Savarin with coconut ice cream and pineapple carpaccio is simply and accurately made, and the excellent espresso is the natural conclusion. A large wine list focuses mainly on Italy with some good vintages at reasonable prices.

Opposite Marylebone police station
Nearest station: Marble Arch

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