Trenta

This small, quietly inviting restaurant sits opposite the policed mews behind Tony and Cherie Blair's townhouse. On a summer evening the whole front window opens up, while pale walls and large mirrors accent the airiness. Pizzette bits, tasty olives and a nice selection of breads, delivered promptly and with charm, quickly made us feel welcome. From a well-judged selection of Italian and other wines we chose a trebbiano: delicious with starters of asparagus salad on a bed of lightly fried egg and a spaghetti vongole that would have been perfect had the abundant clams in their shells been properly seasoned before cooking. These were followed by triangoli filled with porcini and white truffle in a meaty porcini broth, which was nice enough but could have benefited from a last-minute sprinkling of truffle oil, and a magnifico, meltingly textured lamb shank brimming with flavour. For dessert, crème brûlée with frutti de bosca was delightfully perfumed; mascarpone tart with ice cream was very good too. An appealing interlude during the meal was watching a quartet of local twenty-somethings arriving with plates in hand and trooping out with them piled with steaming food. Our bill (a model of clarity) was £79 for two without service.