Too many Italian restaurants in the capital are bog standard and so similar that it’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart. Thank goodness then for Pontis Italian Kitchen which takes Italian food to a higher level altogether.

The Venue
Ponti’s is well-known all over London for its Italian restaurants and caffès. There are twenty around the West End and at the main stations. Started in 1963 as a cafe in Elizabeth Street, Victoria aimed at coach drivers, the business has grown in size and complexity, with more restaurants being added at airports and in other places outsides of London such as Milton Keynes and Birmingham. The emphasis has always been on good, fresh Italian fare and the chain has a reputation for keeping up its standards.

A recent development is the Pontis Italian Kitchen. There are two branches in central London, both just off Oxford Street and an obvious attraction for shoppers looking for real food. Oxford Street itself is bereft of good restaurants and fast food is the order of the day unless you visit one of the department stores for a proper meal. Pontis, however, offers good food in a pleasant environment where you can just have a quick snack or while away the time over the full three courses. It’s neatly decorated in cafeteria style, with modern-looking use of plain wood and bare, open brickwork There’s nothing pretentious about the surroundings and the general ambience is certainly one that is both attractive and comfortable.

The Atmosphere
Open every day from 8am to 11pm, this is an all-day operation that really works. At lunchtime there’s a real buzz about the place with local workers and visiting shoppers tucking in to their midday meals with gusto. It’s not exactly noisy but instead there’s the healthy sound of fine food and drink being enjoyed. This is always a good sign. On warmer days you can sit the outside the John Princes Street and watch the world go by.

The Food
As an all-day restaurant Pontis Italian Kitchen needs to cater for every hour of the day. There are sandwiches such as the Ponti’s Club (grilled chicken, pancetta bacon, salad and Parmesan on Italian bread, as well as one with Parma ham or tuna) but they all come with thick cut chips and salad to make them full meal size. The soups are minestrone and the soup of the day. There are also salads such as chicken Caesar, Italiana, country salad and tuna. A selection of pasta dishes includes cannelloni, lasagne, linguini with salmon and linguini with prawns, and the pizzas are all stone baked using 00 flour. The speciality pizza is the Emilia Romagna, with Parma ham, rocket, mozzarella and tomatoes and named after the region where most of Pontis produce comes from. If you are around mid-afternoon there’s even a choice of afternoon cakes and a choice of teas. A separate children’s menu is also available, and the a la carte menu has quite a few gluten free options.

If there are two of you, you could begin with one of the sharing plates. They include a mixed meat antipasti dish, sourdough bruschetta with veggie toppings, oven-baked mozzarella, Parmesan and spinach frittata, crostini and calamari. The Melanzane Parmigiana (£4.95) is large bowl of chargrilled aubergine slices in a rich tomato sauce with melted mozzarella and Parmesan. It is certainly as good as it sounds – served piping hot, there is more than enough for two diners, especially if you mop up the tomato and cheese sauce with a selection of items from the Italian bread basket (£2.95).

There are six main courses including the Italian Kitchen house burger, char grilled rib eye steak, chicken with rosemary and grilled polenta. The chicken Milanese and the roast salmon are good choices. The chicken is a premium breast, fried with a light coating of breadcrumbs and served on a bed of mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach. The chicken is deliciously fresh and so different to any fried chicken you might encounter on any local high street: thick, juicy and piping hot on its bed of beautifully creamy mash and with a side order of healthy greens. The salmon is a large, oven-roasted fillet, packed with flavour and the rich taste of quality salmon. More excellent mashed potato and spinach plus the addition of a tangy caper mayonnaise make this a really tasty dish. But both are excellent choices that arrive in large portions and both cost a very reasonable £9.95 each.

For dessert there are various ice creams and sorbets, a torta di cioccolata, pannacotta, tiramisu and a semifreddo of Italian ice cream with caramel, chocolate and raspberries, a mixed berry compote and amaretti biscuits. However, the Amaretto cheesecake (£3.50) is a real winner and far from your average stodgy dessert. Instead it’s a rich and velvety vanilla cheesecake on a light biscuit base with crushed amaretti biscuits and a pot of raspberry coulis. Another favourite is the panettone bread & butter pudding (£4.25), a variation on the traditional British pud with the much lighter and less doughy panettone cake instead of bread. Have it with mascarpone cream or vanilla pod ice cream.

The Drink
All the regular coffees and teas are available, plus fruit smoothies and freshly squeezed juices, the usual cold drinks and some Italian mineral waters and lemonades. The homemade still lemonade (£2.10) is really refreshing but, if you are drinking the real stuff, try a glass of sparkling Prosecco. There are also Italian beers and liqueurs and, of course, a selection of fine Italian wines, reasonably priced from between £13.50 and £30 per bottle and £3.40 and £4.75 a glass. Half litre carafes are also available.

The Last Word
After nearly fifty years Pontis is still doing well in catering for London’s neverending appetite for good Italian food. Pontis Italian Kitchens are certainly doing that even if nobody else on London’s busiest street can be bothered to serve real food for hungry shoppers. It is certainly worth a detour for a leisurely lunch break.

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