Restaurants

Urbane yet informal – with wooden tables, art on the walls, a bar at the back (for serving rather than sitting), and terrace dining in summer – Terra Nostra is not the kind of restaurant you expect to find in the City. The warm spirit of the surroundings extends to the food, which has a Sardinian bent. A meal starts with good bread, olives and oil ready and waiting on the tables. A first course of swordfish carpaccio with rocket was elevated by drops of superlative olive oil and judiciously sprinkled grains of rock salt. Calamari ripieni (tender grilled baby squid filled with a smooth, dense sauce of calamari meat, tomatoes and herbs) packed layers of flavours to make another winner. Mains were nearly as successful: an aromatic, robust Sardinian sausage, grilled with spikes of rosemary; and lorighittas (Sardinian ring-shaped pasta) with pesto, aubergine and scallops. The latter featured a brilliantly fresh, herby pesto, though the scallops got lost in the flavour-fest. But this, and the fact our white wine wasn’t quite cold enough, were our only quibbles in a meal that delivered great flavours and a real feel-good factor.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009