Quirinale

Time Out says

Tue Jun 26 2012

Clearly designed as a place for parliamentarians to conduct business, Quirinale has a small, bright subterranean dining room where deals can be made and broken, away from the inconvenience of daylight. However, this efficient operation also offers more relaxed diners the opportunity to indulge at their leisure in an impressive array of tempting traditional Italian food.

Typical dishes draw on fresh, seasonal ingredients: scallop wrapped in pancetta with slices of black truffle on top, for instance, all served on a perfectly seasoned bed of mashed peas. But there can be slips in execution: the scallop and ham were slightly under-done; and a bowl of clams and spaghetti was surprisingly bland, lacking strong representation from the clams, tomatoes and bottarga visible on the plate.

Attractive beige and gold decor, professional service and a lengthy Italian wine list, along with post-meal petits fours – all suggest an ambitious high-end restaurant. Yet while the dishes promise much in their conception, in their delivery they occasionally fall short. The lunch/pre-theatre set menu offers good value.