After several years of success at their Chelsea restaurant, Manicomio has expanded to a new outpost by St Paul’s. Slicker and more contemporary than its older sibling, the new City location aims to scoop up local trade with everything from low key cafe lunches to high style dinners.

The Venue
Manicomio takes up the entirety of a three floor, glass fronted building on a side street near St Paul’s Cathedral. Thanks to its sparkling glass frontage, the striking building stands out on a street of offices. Right out front is a patio area with white plastic chairs and tables, shielded from prying eyes by a large slate wall that doubles as a water feature. The ground floor is the cafe area, complete with deli counter and shelves of goodies for sale. Seating here is casual, with a large-backed green bench and trendy tables with oversized numbers painted on them, making the first floor look friendly, and as rustic as possible for The City.

The first floor, accessibly via a lift towards the back, is the main restaurant area. Floor-to-ceiling windows give a view from the top of Gutter Lane; although it’s not exactly the best view in the capital, it’s still quite striking to be up so high and peer down the curvy little side street. Tables here are dressed with minimalist cutlery, white plates and a flower in a low glass bowl. Lights are in the form of Italian chandeliers made up of papers scrawled with sketches, scribbles and lines of poetry. Stylish but simple, with a few touches of creativity – though if you’re afraid of heights be sure to avoid tables by the window.

The top, and second floor, houses the Roundhouse Bar, with a large, circular bar in the centre and a scattering of booths and tables arranged around the outside. Although the room isn’t actually round, the bar makes it seem so, and peering out of the windows almost seems like you’re at the top of a high tower.

The Atmosphere
Staff at Manicomio are well-presented, friendly and confident. A few are from the Chelsea location, and you can tell that they’ve been impeccably trained so that they come across as just the right combination of professional and affable. The location means that the clientele is largely suited City folk, but with an occasional property developer or lawyer thrown in for good measure. Like many restaurants in the neighbourhood, this one is only open from Monday to Friday – it’s a pity The City is such a ghost town on weekends, because you could really see this place thriving on a Saturday night if it were in a different neighbourhood.

The Food
Like their original location, the food here is Italian. All the important ingredients are either free range and local, made on site or imported from Italy. There’s a pretty vast range of prices and you could get away with a small bill if you stick to pasta or eat lunch in the ground floor cafe; unsurprisingly, though, the prices match the location and while most of Manicomio’s customers won’t think twice at spending £22 for sirloin, the most expensive item on the menu, the £11 tortelleni might be more in line with other budgets.

Despite the price, though, the food is prepared with talent and enthusiasm, and the menu is simple but interesting. Starters include a Black Gold beef carpaccio (£12.50), sliced into thin circular slivers. The meat is so soft it’s almost drips off your fork, but there’s still a texture to it and the taste is lovely and smoky. The wild sea trout tartare (£9.75) is also a solid dish, with thinly shredded trout (almost like crab meat in its consistency) packed together with pieces of samphire, which gives the trout a salty kick and a slight crunch.

Mains are divided into pasta, meat and fish, with about four options for each. Lobster with pasta is almost universally underwhelming – either you work so hard removing the lobster from its shell that you lose your appetite, or you feel cheated by the measly amount of pre-shelled lobster that’s been chucked into the dish. At Manicomio, lobster is paired with spaghetti (£18.50) and is good enough to make you forget about your previous crustacean-and-pasta disasters. The kitchen has thoughtfully separated the lobster into segments, making the meat easy to remove with just a fork and easy to see that you definitely get a good amount of lobster. The lobster chunks are big and indeed there are a lot of them, with such bright red shells that they can be mistaken for tomatoes at first. The meat is sweet and succulent, and mixed through with the thin strands of spaghetti, it’s a simple but satisfying dish. From the meat category, the grilled sirloin of Black Gold beef is served on a miniature wooden chopping board, with a basil-flavoured green sauce and bone marrow on the side. The bone marrow, served with a little spoon, brings out the rich flavour of the beef, which is incredibly tender and so easy to cut that no steak knife is necessary.

Sides include fried courgette flowers, a staple dish in many Italian kitchens and a success here, made with a crisp, light batter sprinkled with salt. The tomato and onion salad is refreshing, with lots of plump red tomato pieces mixed with in an almost vinegary dressing. Puddings (£5 - £6.50) include a chocolate tartufo, with fresh raspberries and layers of thin, dark chocolate between spoonfuls of creamy chocolate mousse. The lemon polenta cake is ideal if you don’t like sugary desserts: although it’s heavy, the crumbly polenta has a slight lemony flavour that’s sharpened by the pistachios mixed through the slice. The accompanying pale yellow custard, however, is a bit bland and doesn’t really add anything to an already subtle dish. A good-sized cheeseboard is available for £10.50, with a selection of five cheeses (cow, goat and sheep) including Dallaglio, Gorgonzola and Peccorino – a good mix of flavours on one plate. Thin, crisp flatbread and fresh figs are served on the side.

The Drink
There’s a vast wine list, with 110 different bottles and most from northern, central and southern Italy and other countries include France, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Surprisingly, especially given the area, the prices are very reasonable, with bottles starting at £15 and topping out at £195 (a bottle of French Chateau Figeac St Emilion 1999) and £250 for a 1999 Krug Champagne. There are 17 types of wine available by the glass starting from £4, as well as eight half bottles. Beer is also on offer as well for £3.50.

If you’d like to sample the restaurant’s Italian wines, the Sicilian Regaleali 2006 (£26 by the bottle, £6.75 by the glass) is a good choice for a glass of clean, fragrant white wine with a hint of honey. From the list of reds, the Argentinean Mendoza Malbec 2006 (£22 by the bottle, £5.74 by the glass) is a very traditional Malbec, full-bodied and spicy with a deep, rich colour.

Although there’s a bar on the side of the restaurant, the upstairs bar also has a full cocktail menu ranging from £7.50 - £9, with all the classic drinks plus frozen daiquiris and margaritas as well as a good selection of sparkling drinks. Recommended digestifs include amaretto and limoncello, which is served in a tall, thin-stemmed glass.

The Last Word
Manicomio fits in well with The City, picking up everything from a casual lunch trade to impressive three course (and then some) dinners. It’s bound to be popular with the area’s work force, whether they’re dining for business or pleasure. And on the weekends? There’s always Chelsea.

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