Da Paolo

Da Paolo is one of countless Italian restaurants around Charlotte Street (Da Paolo, 3 Charlotte Place, London W1T 1SD). It seems people can't get enough of the stuff. It's a quaint little restaurant with good service, slightly detached from the craziness that can be Charlotte Street on a busy night, and it has a good selection of pasta and risotto dishes, as well as fancier entrées. I can recommend the swordfish, tuna and salmon carpaccio or the grilled vegetables with mozarella as starters. All the pasta and risotto dishes sound great, but the risotto with dolcelatte and asparagus is truly excellent, if a bit on the heavy side. Garganelle with swordfish is good, but nothing special, although the pasta's cooked just right. And for those of you who like to order off the menu, the chef will be happy to whip up whatever pasta dish takes your fancy.

Incidentally, garganelle isn't a pasta shape you'll easily find in your local Waitrose, which sells stupid shapes like shells, bowties and wagon wheels (really, what the heck is that about?). I suspect there's a pasta shape hierarchy at Italian restaurants. Linguine positively looks down on spaghetti, and garganelle is favoured over its more plebeian macaroni cousin....

As for desserts, give the sorry excuse for a tiramisu a miss. It's dry, doesn't taste of coffee or amaretto and it's completely buried under cocoa powder. Inhale it by accident and you might choke. The crème caramel, however, is excellent.

Garganelle con pesce spada, pomodoro e arugula

Risotto con dolcelatte e asparagi
Crème caramel