La Coppola

With its supply of colourful fresh vegetables spilling out onto the pavement of Regent Street, La Coppola Ristorante has your stomach juices pumping even before you’ve stepped inside. And there, the visual delight continues: it is easy to confuse the ceiling with that of the Sistine Chapel; branches laden with cherry blossom hang here and there, and veritable shoals of fish sit glistening on ice, their glassy eyes full of gastronomical promise.

Once a flirty Italian waiter or waitress has ushered you to your table, you are presented with the impossible task of choosing what you want to eat off the extensive menu, encompassing antipasti, pasta, pizza, various meats, and fresh fish. A complimentary amuse-bouche came in the form of green olives on a bed of shaved ice.

What you decide to drink depends on how good a beating you want to give your wallet. There is a large selection of wines and even cocktails and liqueurs. The house wine is reasonably priced at £13.95 a bottle; if it’s lager you want, we suggest you ditch the Peroni in favour of the cheaper and unarguably superior Birra Messina. And of course, there’s always the possibility of committing the quasi-suicidal faux pas of asking for tap water.

Eventually we settled on the Antipasti Italiano to start: a grand slate platter to share between two, adorned with various salamis, parma ham, exquisite balls of melon, bruschetta, grilled aubergine, and pieces of creamy mozzarella. At £7.50 each, it’s not cheap for a starter but highly recommended.

After a brief interlude the main course arrived, namely the ‘Spaghetti con Vongole e Gamberoni’ and the ‘Risotto di Mare’. The former is a spaghetti dish in a light tomato sauce, with whole clams and king prawns turned into the pasta. It was delicious and the subtle heat of the sauce complimented the sea food excellently. The risotto was an appealing dark pink colour. Resting on it were prawns, clams and huge mussels. It was creamy and satisfying and even the finger bowl looked good enough to guzzle down. The generous portion sizes meant that at £10.95 and £13.95 respectively, these dishes represented good value for money. For the more financially cautious, there are cheaper alternatives.

We finished off the meal with excellent espresso coffee. With the bill came delightful complimentary chocolates to sweeten the bitter taste it inevitably leaves in your mouth. The service was efficient but could have come across as rushed, owing to the fact that the restaurant is very popular and nearly always full. If you are thinking of going in the evening you need to book, even during the week. Overall, with its great quality yet reasonably priced food and quintessentially Italian atmosphere, La Coppola Ristorante is definitely somewhere to take the parents or anyone you are looking to treat to a thoroughly enjoyable meal.