Machiavelli

A cut above your usual café-cum-deli, Machiavelli combines brooding good looks with casual but classy cooking. Taking its name from the infamous Italian political schemer, the surroundings here mix both the sophisticated and the traditional: black lacquered bistro tables with linen napkins sit next to wicker baskets full of fresh lemons.

Towards the back, there's a rustic communal table where well-dressed thirtysomethings sit perched over their state-of-the-art laptops.

The food follows suit. We enjoyed two light, summery salads - a verdant mix of al dente mangetout and French beans tossed with peas and chunks of salty feta, plus a dish of cold orecchiette (bowl-shaped pasta) with intense black olives, pine nuts, sweet cherry tomatoes and a light coating of basil pesto. But almost as tempting was the homely-looking lasagne studded with chunks of sausage.

Elsewhere, there are salt caramel tarts and flourless chocolate cakes from the counter, hot dishes of pasta and steak on the compact printed menu, and gourmet store-cupboard ingredients to take home.

That's not to say that this importer-turned-restaurant group (its sister site is Manicomio) doesn't have its shortcomings: on our visit, service veered from haughty to hapless, with only one lone waitress able to crack a smile.