We had heard much about this restaurant and had been trying to get in for months. We had almost given up but decided to accept the Monday night we were offered after our umpteenth phone call. It was packed. Gripe: we were offered a table for 7.45pm but told that we would have to give it back after two hours. OK…(not really…) but then don't keep us standing by the door for nearly ten minutes, and then ignore us for another ten minutes when we sit down. Hmmm. BUT…we forgave everything because the food was fantastic. Really fantastic. Extraordinary salad of celeriac, radish, pomegranate and truffle oil. Carpaccio of lamb with peppery pecorino. Tagliatelle with pigeon and pork ragu. Haven't had anything like any of these dishes anywhere in London, all were outstanding. Bitter almond granita with chocolate sorbet – divine. The room was buzzing, delighted munching everywhere. It's a small room and they have squeezed as many tables as could possibly be considered polite into the space. Great eavesdropping. Best of all – the idea of having every dish as a small or large plate – genius. So you can have three or four small plates…or a large one to share…brilliant. And a very very reasonable bill. And a superb Italian wine list. But the manager looked utterly harrassed. The staff were good, there just weren't enough of them. The manager, on finally bringing the bill (after quite a lot of waiting…) did ask if everything had been OK which impressed me, because he did actually listen to what we said. Bocca di Lupo is an excellent restaurant serving outstanding food but it needs to be very careful indeed not to overstretch itself. More staff and less packing in the punters would make this dining experience one worth fighting to get into. Londoners are fickle, I hope they are able to get it right because it's worth it.
