Restaurants

Tucked behind the mayhem of Oxford Street, 2 Veneti specialises in the cuisine of Venice and the Veneto, its surrounding region. Well-heeled regulars and local office workers flock to the somewhat dated dining room, but don’t expect to find many homesick Venetians dining here, since the cooking is uneven at best. While a rustic, countryside dish of pan-fried slices of soppressa (a fatty, coarse-grained sausage) over grilled radicchio bowled us over, other typical dishes fared less spectacularly. Fritto misto (deep-fried mixed seafood) is one of the pillars of Venetian cuisine and won plaudits on a previous visit, but unfortunately not this time, when it arrived as a plateful of chewy calamari rings and a few woolly-textured prawns. Since Venetian cooks don’t bother preparing fritto misto if they can’t find perfectly fresh-tasting seafood, perhaps the kitchen at 2 Veneti should try harder. Another Venetian stalwart, risotto with seafood, came in a huge portion, but was greasy and rather indifferent. Sadly the textbook tiramisu, indulgent selection of grappas and prized Veneto wines could barely make up for 2 Veneti’s unfulfilled promises.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009