Elisa's Reviews

Excellent, well-executed and innovative food and friendly professional service in a smart environment. I would normally say : what can you want more? Well, I now have a baby and L'Anima scores off the scale for baby-friendliness: when we visited today with my 10-month old, nothing was too much trouble. The well-spaced tables offered ample space for the buggy, a pristine Stokke high chair turned up within 30 seconds of asking for one and the friendly waiters not only coped brilliantly with the cutlery dropping, but also picked up toys, offered menus to be played with and came to smile and wave at the baby various times during the meal. We were even asked whether the kitchen could come up with something baby would like. In short, much, much better than any of the so-called family -friendly chains, in a smart environment with excellent food at a very busy lunchtime. Alleluja! It was time somebody realised people do not lose their taste for good food and smart restaurants on becoming a parent. We shall definitely be going back.

Excellent mezze, great location but, outside of special offers, it can feel overpriced, especially when one ends up at one of the dark and noisy side tables near the bar. The special offer is good value and, unusually in my experience, the house wine is pleasant. Service is unfortunately hit-and-miss, with longish wait times (from when shown to the table to when the menu and the fresh vegetables arrive) and staff that sometimes does not seem to understand orders well.

However, a lunchtime table by the window can hardly be beaten for a quiet catch-up (or a more formal meeting) over good food.

Well-executed high quality Italian food (the gnocchi al pesto are particularly good: fluffy, light, melt-in-the mouth, such as only fresh handmade gnocchi can be), a deep, interesting (if pricey) wine list (including an excellent selection of wines by the glass) and attentive, discreet service make Alloro my one of my favourite Italian restaurants in London. Its popularity (especially with discerning fellow Italian foodies) also causes its only defect: it is quite noisy at lunchtime, which can be offputting when the company is as important as the food.