When you think of traditional Italian restaurants in central London, Piccolo Diavolo pretty much fits the bill. It has an old fashioned frontage decorated in green, red and white, it has a frenetic level of service and it can be found within minutes of the major sightseeing landmarks, all of which makes it particularly popular with tourists and theatre-goers. As for the food and drink, that’s pretty good too.

The Venue
Piccolo Diavolo – Little Devil in English - can be found around the corner from the bright neon lights of the Palace Theatre on a tight little Soho side street. With such close proximity to theatres, hedonistic late night bars and the bits of London concrete that tourists trample in their thousands, Piccolo Diavolo isn’t somewhere Londoners might be queuing around the block to eat at but it’s very popular, nonetheless.

It’s decorated in a typical Italian style – jars of pickled artichokes sit next to packets of pasta in the window display; there are dozens of Chianti bottles wrapped in wicker baskets dangling from the ceiling, and there’s an obligatory map of Italy on the wall. A signed and framed England football shirt from the 1966 World Cup winning team breaks up the Italian theme and on closer inspection, seems to be the real deal.

The Atmosphere
It’s not quite cheek-to-jowl at the dinner table but you might be elbow-to-elbow with other tables. Service is zippy and you’d better be happy to engage in banter with the most vocal members of staff, or else you might find the whole shtick a little grating. Music is piped through the tinny speakers and, on a Friday night, consists of a bizarre selection of rowdy Reggaeton.

The Food
On the whole the food is pretty good at Piccolo Diavolo. A basket of their garlic pizza bread (£2.50) has a very pungent flavour and works well with a simple bowl of olives as you eye up the menu.

Their gamberoni del Mediterraneo, whole prawns cooked in butter, garlic and served with white wine and lemon, shows this is a restaurant that can do the simple things well. The prawns are fat, juicy and full of flavour and the sauce is incredibly moreish. However, at an astonishing £9.95 you really are paying for the privilege. A special starter of rocket salad, Prosciutto ham and avocado (around £8) is served in a portion that’s big enough for two. The rocket is thick and interwoven like a bird’s nest, and the salty ham and ripe avocado work well together, although a dash of olive oil and balsamic is required to set it off.

Most pasta dishes can be ordered as a starter or a main course, and they only cost around £7.95 for a main dish, which represents good value especially when you consider the pricing of the starters. The classic linguine alla marinera is a simple plate of al dente pasta and little slices of squid, octopus and beautiful clams. The garlic and white wine sauce makes the linguine glisten but you can’t help feeling that it would be more satisfying if there was a little more liquid to the sauce rather than it being a relatively dry one.

The steak fares much better. A plump piece of fillet steak is served covered in a shallow creamy peppercorn sauce which has a dash of brandy to give it a kick. Velvety, golden mash is served on the side and is pretty much faultless. French beans will set you back a further £1.80, but the crunchy greens are an excellent foil for the buttery mash and cooked precisely to order medium rare steak.

Desserts waver around the £4 mark. A light and fluffy tiramisu does justice to the Italian classic, whilst a strawberry cheesecake is another excellent example of how not to over complicate - the crunchy biscuit base contrasts gloriously with the vanilla flavoured filling and the tart strawberry topping.

The Drink
Top marks for Piccolo Diavolo here. Their house wine, the Sangiovese Rubicone, is one of the best house wines you will find around these parts, particularly given it’s an absolute steal at £14 a bottle. Its full bodied flavour makes it taste like it costs much more that. Prices then head upwards with the whites peaking at £24.50 for a Greco di Tufo and the reds hitting the dizzy heights of £45 for a Brunello di Montalcino.

The Last Word
With its brash atmosphere and transient trade, Piccolo Diavolo might not be somewhere to return to time and time again but, if you’re in this part of London and need a safe bet, this is a decent tip.

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