La Pietra

Visited this lovely little gem with a Groupon voucher and was very pleased I did.

The staff are warm and friendly without being overbearing. Decor is "modern-rustic", with clean lines and wide rough-ish wooden floorboards and moderate lighting.

I had an absolutely lovely mixed salad to start, my friend had a delicious ceasar salad. Both were crisp and fresh and the portion was quite sizeable for a starter.  I then had the black squid ink linguine which was divine-- it's one of my favourite Italian dishes and I don't see it much in London.  The seafood in the dish was soft without being too chewy (even the mussels), and the pasta sauce had the right amount of chili -- spicy without overpowering the taste of the pasta. Both of us had the sea bream which was perfectly cooked: fragrant, moist, and melt-in-your mouth.

The only slight drawback was that service took a while, we spent 2 hours at dinner and the place wasn't terribly crowded. However, one could say you should expect to wait a while for nicely cooked & prepared food.

It was a very good deal with the voucher, but I'm definitely coming back here, voucher or not. The pizzas looked and smelled amazing -- I can't wait to try one. 

We went to La Pietra after buying a voucher from a deal website and we were really glad we did. The offer was for the four course menu, along with a glass of prosecco and a glass of house wine each.

The decor of the restaurant is lovely, especially the amazing stone table which is a bit of a centre piece to the room. It's all wood, stone and monochrome. It was quite quiet when we arrived, but got busier through the evening and there were also lots of Italians dining there which I felt was a good sign.

The food was really good and felt quite authentic. The menu offers a lot more than pasta and pizze which a great menu of mains and seafood too, including lobster.

For starter we had: smoked salmon with a yoghurt sauce / Anchovies, buffalo cheese and roasted peppers. My anchovies were delicious, really rich and salty and a great contrast against the creamy mozzarella. 

For our second course we had: spaghetti with wild boar ragu / risotto with wild clams and saffron. The portion sizes were just right on our 'Primi' course. My risotto was cooked just right with plenty of flavour.

For our main we had: steak served on a hot brick / filet mignon with creamy pepper sauce / a side of chilli, garlic spinach to share. The quality of the meat was fab, it tore apart with a gentle cut of the knife. The steak on a hot brick was really nicely seasoned. 

For dessert we had: Chocolate mousses / dessert of the day which was a duo of almond tarts with chocolate mousse. The chocolate mousse on it's own was a little bitter, but it worked well with the tart I opted for.

All in all a great experience, with good service and at a great price (with the voucher). If I was paying full price I'd probably skip one of the courses, but it's definitely worth a try if you fancy a special meal.