Latium Restaurant
Restaurant - Italian in London
21 Berners Street
London
Greater London
W1T 3LP
Contact Numbers
Reviews
Do as the Romans Do
As I finally left ‘Latium', it dawned on me that I had failed to try their signature dish: the multi-coloured four fish ravioli. This was spectacularly remiss of me. Their potent little parcels are legendary and that dish won ‘best U.K. pasta plate'. I blame my French companion for distracting me (and fellow diners) with lewd gestures...Despite being founded by an important duo, Latium has mercifully few pretensions. The team seem content to get on with the business of serving keenly sourced ingredients remarkably reasonably, gathering a faithful following in the process. Its co-owners are Claudio Pulze, who went from being a bellboy to become one of London's most powerful restaurateurs, and dynamic Roman Chef, Maurizio Morelli. From the street, there are few hints at such pedigree. Office blinds cling plate glass; serious capitals state ‘ITALIAN RESTAURANT'. Inside, the dining room is smartly minimal. Coal-coloured sofas and vivid, glossy photographs of flowers contrast with white walls and bright poinsettias. On the Friday lunchtime my friend and I visited, it was busy, even noisy.Never underestimate the importance of bread to an Italian. Latium's selection, baked on site, was clearly superior to far too many wan rolls, unlovingly baked and chucked on plates. The basket featured: spinach and pecorino, sweet walnut and raisin, almost meaty sun dried tomato and light taupe coloured olive rolls. Brittle Sardinian flatbread from an artisan rather than an accountant in Nuoro represented possibly the only bought in, already prepared food. This was offered with a little saucer of organic Itranan olive oil from the limestone Lepini mountains in Latium, esteemed since Roman times.I chose the Lingua di Vitello bollito to begin, a salad of moist, surprisingly flavoursome cross-sections of veal tongue with tuna sauce and baby leeks in vinegar. It felt like a stylish variation of tonnato, although inauthentic mayonnaise had been replaced by fresh Italian parsley sauce. Lettuce leaves were brisk and wiry; the jenga of leeks tense. A refreshing, appetising dish, it rendered me as speechless as the calf…For the primi piatti, perfectly seasoned Pappardelle con Ragù' di Lepre (hare) illustrated a hearty Tuscan influence (the Etruscans once dominated Latium). It was wholesome: richly animal in its musky, earthy, comforting perfume, which ‘puts everyone in a good mood' according to Morelli. Whilst the dish might seem simple, it in fact takes a lot of work. I am told that (like me) it is marinated in wine - for at least 24 hours - braised on the bone with vegetables, chopped by hand, then again gently cooked for a further two hours. The wide, silky homemade ribbons (cousin to the smaller tagliatelle) thickly bound everything together.If the primi piatti was bucolic, the main course was more urban: Filetto di Merluzzo nero (black cod) on curled, part caramelised chicory with unadulterated bottle green worms of samphire and sweet, concentrated red wine must (unfermented grape juice). Rather than apply the pigeonhole principle and interpret the cod as being an Asian influence, I found out that this dish represents a ‘new idea bound within a firm Italian structure,' the result of ‘a young man who left Italy almost as a teenager and learned and discovered different tastes, textures and culinary cultures in a colourful London.' The cod's top was a crisp shard under which the flesh was loose and tender.My Mokarabia café latte, prepared using an antique manual coffee machine, tasted like liquefied bitter chocolate and did not need sugar. Little chocolate truffles and biscotti were delightful, epecially the sphere coated in cinnamon.The wine list, some of which is on display, is generally accessibly priced, although there is room for improvement on the list by the glass. It stars an intriguing and personal selection, from lesser-known grape anomalies such as Magliocco, Gaglioppo and Fallanghina to classic Brunellos, sleek Super Tuscans and a handful of posh Piedmontese.Rather than vaguely amass the greatest hits of Italy's twenty regions on a menu, Morelli delivers an authored snapshot of his home, developed without a focus on public expectation...*My thanks to ‘Eat Man Drink Woman' (http://eat-drink-man-woman-blog.blogspot.com/2008/02/latium.html) whose radiant reports inspired this booking.
A User - 11/12/2008 | report this review
A special birthday treat
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!
A User - 02/11/2008 | report this review
As good as it gets!
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. I've eaten there three times over the past 18 months and I can'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 that's not snooty! The staff are so good you don't notice them and the coffee is very good for a restaurant.It'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 haven't had lunch their yet but the set price lunch menu looks like good value too.
A User - 02/03/2008 | report this review
I liked Latium
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.
A User - 06/02/2008 | report this review
Leave your review of Latium Restaurant
All fields are required. Your review will appear immediately.
