http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium <b>Latium</b><br />London, 21 Berners St, W1T 3LP, United Kingdom en http://trustedplaces.com/uploads/placepics/trustedplaces.comaPlacePic['name']}.140.jpg http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium/1i5q68
Review by Sarah_W

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
We came here a couple of weeks ago to celebrate my birthday as I'd seen a couple of good reviews. The reviews proved to be spot on - we had an excellent meal and a really nice evening.

The restaurant is a little off the beaten track, though only a stone's throw from trendy Charlotte Street. We liked the modern decor (though the old wardrobe by the door for customers' coats and bags is a nice touch) and got a friendly Italian welcome from the waiting staff. We ate fairly early so the restaurant was quiet when we arrived, but it soon filled up - however, it never got too noisy and we enjoyed the view of the bustling room from our table in the window.

The menu here is a set one, with a small number of choices for each course and a flat charge of £24.50 for two courses or £28.50 for three, which in my view is excellent value for the quality, especially when you add in the various extras. We enjoyed a wonderful selection of bread and rolls, eating far more of it than we normally would because of the variety (the parmesan flavoured slices were the stand-out but the walnut and rasin came a close second, and there were also sundried tomato and black olives rolls, and crispy Sicilan flat bread). This came with a dish of good olive oil for dipping. We were also given a plate of small canapes and a bowl of fantastic olives - Chris, who is a real olive fan, pronounced them among the best he has tasted! And this is all before we've even started on the food we'd ordered :-)

So on to the menu. Latium specialises in ravioli, and a whole page in the menu is devoted to it, with several choices for each course. We both sampled something from this, with me choosing the taleggio, Swiss chard and walnut starter and Chris the ricotta and lemon ravioli for his mains. His starter meanwhile was the beef tartar with wild rocket qualis' eggs and my main a lovely piece of salmon in a pumpkin sauce. Chris then indulged in the tiramisu and I had a wonderful dessert of wafer thin pineapple slices wrapped around indulgent lime semi-freddo. I can't pick a favourite out of this list - everything was really delicious! My only tiny complaint was that my pumpkin sauce was almost cold, but when I pointed this out the waitress was very apologetic and replaced it without question (and I am sure it was a new dish, not simply reheated).

We turned down coffee but they still brough a plate of gorgeous petits fours - the white chocolate truffle rolled in cinnamon was truly miraculaous, and luckily for me Chris doesn't like white chocolate ...

With water and a bottle of wine we paid about £85 which was really good value for such a wonderful meal. We will be back!]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:56:35 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium/1i5q68892377065 Sarah_W 51.5175 -0.136935 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium/1h47g8
Review by Coffeegeek

Rating: 5.00
Tags:
If you want to spend £100+ on dinner for two, this is the place I would recommend. They say its an Italian resturant but that really under sells it.
Iâ¬"ve eaten there three times over the past 18 months and I canâ¬"t think of anything that lets it down. The food is exceptionally good. The four fish ravioli starter is amazing. Subtle flavours that melt on your tongue. Good wine range and a helpful sommelier thatâ¬"s not snooty! The staff are so good you donâ¬"t notice them and the coffee is very good for a restaurant.

Itâ¬"s located opposite the Sanderson hotel so you can try one of their cocktails pre-dinner and slip across the road for a discreet dinner.

I havenâ¬"t had lunch their yet but the set price lunch menu looks like good value too.
]]> Sat, 08 Mar 2008 14:41:11 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium/1h47g8536954905 Coffeegeek 51.5175 -0.136935 http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium/1w46z7
Review by sue

Rating: 4.00
Tags:
Latium had been on my radar for a while after reading a few rave reviews from Italian expats who claimed it was an authentic, under-rated gem. So we ventured there one Friday evening for an end of week treat.

First impressions were good. Stylish but cosy interior, mood music, comfortable seating, and very friendly and knowledgeable service. Latium specialise in filled pasta - ravioli, tortellini and so on, but there was a very good range of dishes on offer, not to mention an all-Italian wine list offering something for everyone. After hearing our brief, our waiter suggested a bottle of wine that turned out to be exactly what we were after. He was very proud to inform us that it was a wine he had recommended to the owner and he seem chuffed that it has been added to the extensive cellar. We noticed later that he had successfully promoted it to neighboring tables too.

As we settled in to peruse the menu (£28 for 3 courses), we were given some tasty little appetisers which we polished off greedily. Once we had ordered, a basket of mixed breads arrived, accompanied by some good olive oil. Our starters arrived swiftly - a little too swiftly, but they looked good. I had the Crab Tortelli with rocket sauce and AM had the Pappardelle with hare ragout. Both pasta's were perfectly cooked, and the flavours of the tortelli dish were subtle yet intriguing.

Main course for AM was the Roast breast of Gressingham duck with Umbrian lentils and endive timbale, welted spinach, while I chose the Grilled fillet of beef wrapped with courgettes and pancetta, mashed potato and wild chicory. Both were beautifully presented and generous sized serves. The duck was pink and flavoursome, and the beef just melted in your mouth, and I loved the flavour combination of the courgette and pancetta.

Full, but pushing on, we continued to dessert. I had the Chocolate & almond tart with amaretto sauce - it looked more like a pudding than a tart, but that didn't matter, it was rich and almondy. AM had the Ravioli filled with apple, pine-kernels, cinnamon raisin and vanilla sauce, which was magnificent, though the serving size was too small (not that we were still hungry, it was just a bit stingy).

We thought it was all over, but when we asked for the bill they appeared with an assortment of petit fours, most of which we bravely managed to polish off. Latium, we will return.]]> Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:52:41 +0000 /review/uk/london/restaurant/1252z6z/latium/1w46z791970170 sue 51.5175 -0.136935