Quirinale is amongst London’s finest restaurants for modern Italian cuisine. Only a couple of minutes walk from the Palace of Westminster, it boasts impeccable service, light, tasteful decor and a delicious blend of modern and traditional regional dishes.

The Venue
There is a particularly unlovely and unloved species of restaurant that exists in the shadow of great seats of power or money that are able to thrive despite their manifest inadequacy. Their menu will invariably be full of overambitious and overpriced attempts at fusion dishes, but this will matter little as the clientele comes to be seen, talk loudly, and charge it all to the expense account anyway. Given that Quirinale is located only a couple of minutes waddle from Parliament, you’d be forgiven for assuming it was just like the rest of the venues populating the area. Quirinale is refreshing from the moment you descend its steps into the restaurant proper. Despite being in what is essentially the basement, the decor still leaves the small space light and airy. Pale floors and simple but luxurious leather furniture give the impression of space, despite the small capacity of this intimate restaurant.

The Atmosphere
The positive impression of Quirinale starts the moment you interact with the reception and waiting staff. The service strikes exactly the right balance between impeccable efficiency and friendliness, keeping you well attended without false jocularity. One of the great successes of Quirinale is its ability to offer exceptionally high calibre food without feeling intimidating to those outside the political or gourmand circles. The politicos and the powerful still certainly habituate this place, but more of the ‘quiet word in the right ear’ type, than ‘on his second bottle of £150 burgundy and broadcasting like a foghorn’ variety.

The Food
Under the aegis of head chef Stefano Savio, Quirinale offers a refreshing and novel iteration of traditional Italian food. There is none of the over-reliance upon killer doses of carbohydrate, sweet tomato sauces and garlic that often makes Italian food satisfying but undistinguished. The innovative menu steers right away from comfort food, yet with all the flavours strong and distinctively presented.

The main dishes don’t sacrifice satisfaction for the sake of novelty, and feature everything from hearty shanks of lamb and cuts of beef to lighter fish dishes. Quirinale also has what is very likely the most impressive array of regional Italian cheeses in town, and for the uninitiated the staff will enthusiastically recommend a selection. A white truffle menu is also available, in season, for £120 for three courses.

The Quirinale offers a delicious a la carte menu and is open Monday to Friday for lunch and dinner, but if you are going to pay around £20 a plate and ideally about £100 a meal, then you may as well go the whole hog and have dinner. Dig deep and treat a visit to this restaurant as a full gastronomic experience, starting with the freshly baked Italian breads with olive oil, right the way through to the cheeses and flawless gelati.

The Drink
For as long as your wallet and your liver can hold out, you can take a comprehensive tour of the flavours of the Italian countryside. There are a couple of French labels thrown in for the sake of completeness, but the exhaustive list of Italian wines really does demand exploration. As with the cheese board or anything else on the menu, the staff will lend you the benefit of their formidable expertise, condescension free. For a lighter lunchtime bite, several excellent wines come by the glass from about £5.

The Last Word
The Quirinale is not cheap, but you will certainly get what you pay for. Even though some of the flavours might be too strong for some palates, the ingredients are all top notch and its comparatively simple dishes superlatively done.

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