2 Veneti

2 Veneti must be doing something right based on the fact that almost every table was occupied on a Monday lunchtime. However, what it is, was by no means obvious to my dining comrade and I. The experience may simply be described as ‘average’ in one word. 2 Veneti is undoubtedly a step up from the likes of Zizzi, but is no competition for London's better Italian restaurants. The restaurant was light and airy and lacking in formality, but the tables perhaps located too closely together and the lighting rather bright. As far as the food was concerned, my starter of pan-fried scallops and crispy bacon with celeraic purée merited, for some reason, a £3.50 premium versus the other starters. For what, I am not quite sure. I got just two scallops and the purée was served far too cold relative to the other ingredients, perhaps straight out of the fridge and maybe straight from a packet… In terms of the mains, I ordered bigoli (Venetian pasta) with duck and my dining comrade tagliatelli with mushrooms. It was only after a couple of mouthfuls, however, that we realised we had been given our dishes the wrong way round. Both were similar in colour and – at least to us – sufficiently unmemorable (even if perfectly pleasant) – for the error to have been made. For a new(ish) restaurant such a lapse in service is not necessarily forgiveable, but on the principle about either food or service being sufficiently memorable (in a positive way) to merit a return visit, 2 Veneti would fail the test. At least the waiting staff were enthusiastic and the bill reasonable…

We've had two lovely dinners here in the past few weeks. The first was excellent- raviolis stuffed with veal in a rosemary and butter sauce and the seafood risotto were outstanding. Last night the liver was perfectly cooked and the raviolis with truffle fondue sauce was very good. The service was memorable- our waiter Marco was helpful, attentive and -without overstepping his role- lots of fun. And always a good sign-the restaurant was full of Italians.