Mauro Sanna adds another branch of his Sardinian empire in and around Belgravia with a smart new restaurant to join Olivo (Eccleston Street) and Oliveto (Elizabeth Street). And Olivomare even has its own wine shop next door.

The Venue
Signor Sanna first opened Olivo in 1991, later adding Oliveto and now Olivomare. They all appear to serve only fish and seafood, hence the Sardinian connection. Olivomare is a long and narrow single unit with closely packed tables. The decor is very 1960s, almost op or pop art in its depiction of a piscine theme. The main wall is covered with a huge fish pattern, with fish eyes bearing down at you, coral coils hanging from the ceiling and the far end wall could either be waves or an undulating beach. Everything is stark white.

The Atmosphere
This is the main drawback, the atmosphere. Because of the hardness of all the surfaces, white laminated tables spaced too close together, white plastic seating, no cloths or other soft furnishings, little space between tables and a very noisy clientele when it’s busy, the overall feeling is one of discomfort. A pity, because the food is good.

The Food
This is Sardinian with a vengeance and it is quite unlike any other Italian restaurant you care to mention outside of the Sanna empire. Starters offer chargrilled cuttlefish with black ink dressing, pickled white anchovies on chargrilled courgettes and rocket, and couscous soup with clams, chilli, garlic and tomato. Moscardini piccanti is an excellent baby octopus stew with the tender little devils steeped in a rich gravy of chilli and tomato sauce. Mauro Sanna introduced London to botarga (pressed grey mullet roe) way back when and it does make a delicious starter here served with artichoke hearts. Not a particularly strong flavour, but a good appetiser nonetheless.

Main courses offer seafood risotto, tagliolini with ragout of monkfish, Sardinian spaghetti with the aforementioned botarga, grated, plus a selection of fish – tuna, sea bream, halibut, sea bass, monkfish and a stew of fresh fish and shellfish in the Cassola. The pan-fried red mullet fillets on a bed of Sardinian couscous which looked whiter than the north African variety, enjoyable but almost too dry. The sgombro, chargrilled mackerel, however, is moist and packed with flavour, a good meaty specimen served on the bone, with a warm potato and green bean salad: a good choice. Starters are priced from £8.50, mains from £14.00.

The desserts (£4.50-£7.50) are the piece de resistance and worth the wait: tortino caldo di cioccolato is a hot chocolate pudding oozing with molten chocolate and served with creme fraiche. Another treat is the sebada, a Sardinian cheese fritter with honey, a toothsome light pastry stuffed with cream cheese and topped with sticky honey: a total delight.

The Drink
You can also go the whole hog with drinks from Sardinia. The house aperitif is Vernaccia di Oristano, a kind of sherry-style drink, and there’s also Ichnusa Sardinian beer and Sardinian mineral water. The selection of Sardinian and other Italian wines is well-chosen, with the house bottles (£15.50 or £3.75 a glass) of Selegas (white) and Perdera (red) being very drinkable, and all are available from the adjacent shop.

The Last Word
It’s a shame that such good food is let down by the noisiness of the restaurant itself. At the moment it is an uncomfortable place to be and that’s unlikely to change. Perhaps local Belgravians may not object but it doesn’t seem the kind of place where you would want to spend an entire evening.

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