If you like a retro feel to your Italian food and don’t mind 21st-century prices, you could do worse than this solid establishment, brilliantly situated for Covent Garden and the Strand’s theatres.

The Venue
The site has an interesting history. From the 1890s for almost 100 years, it was one of the few Yates Brothers wine lodges outside the north of England. In 1983 it became sandwich bar and coffee shop Da Marco. In 2003 it assumed its current incarnation as a civilised, ground floor, 50-cover Italian (with two first-floor rooms for private parties, or for overspill customers at busy times). The main room is long and narrow with original wood panelling, pale oyster and dark terracotta paintwork, wood flooring and subdued lighting. It feels like the dining car of a 1930s train, minus the windows.

The Atmosphere
Stranded in London would work well for a romantic dinner a deux or for a business group, for a swift pre-theatre refuel (special deal menus available) or for a more leisurely three-course blow-out. It can be a bit quiet early in the week once the crowds have dispersed to the neighbouring Adelphi, Savoy or Vaudeville theatres, or to Covent Garden for something a little more highbrow. Vaguely Flamenco-y music plays; staff are friendly and attentive.

The Food
A selection of eight appetisers includes mixed, marinated olives (£2.50/£3.75) and various bruschette. Plain bread with butter is 95p a head which seems parsimonious. Ten starters, plus five specials, include old favourites like grilled sardines (£5.90), minestrone (£4.95), tricolore salad (£6.50) and seafood salad (£6.95). Parma ham with melon (£6.95), the simplest of all Italian starters, relies entirely on the quality of the two components. This version scores one out of two: a generous portion of well-flavoured, wafer-thin, billowing slices of meat atop melon which could be sweeter. Cornets of smoked salmon filled with prawn and potato creme fraiche (£7.50) are good but not as described. The salmon has been rolled cylindrically, not into cornets, and, more importantly, there’s no sign of potato or creme fraiche. Instead, the succulent prawns appear in a straightforward Marie Rose sauce.

Fourteen pasta, gnocchi and risotto options are all available as starters or mains (though the menu doesn’t reveal this, pricing them only as main courses). There are 17 main courses proper (none of them vegetarian, though plenty of the pastas are) plus no fewer than six specials. A couple of British classics, fish and chips (£12.50) and bangers and mash (£11.95) have somehow sneaked onto the list. Like the salmon starter, steak Diane (£16.90) takes you back to 1980s dinner parties – you can almost see the floaty-sleeved hostess preparing it. The generous, flattened steak is tender and cooked just as ordered, its accompanying sauce gratifyingly mushroom-y. Sea bream fillets a la Meuniere (£15.90) are a bit bony but have a good, earthy flavour under their lovely, buttery glaze.

All sides have to be ordered separately, so a main course here is not a bargain. New potatoes (£2.95) surprise by being large and without peel. Mixed vegetables (£2.95) include al dente carrots, cauliflower and broccoli and slightly overdone French beans. A salad (£2.75) of mixed leaves, tomato and cucumber is pleasantly dressed. With dessert (all £5.25 with the exception of a cheese selection for £6.95), comes another surprise; traditional tiramisu arrives topped with a thick layer of hazelnut ice cream. The idea works quite well but the menu should flag it up, not mislead diners into expecting a traditional tiramisu when this is no such thing. The chef has been slightly heavy-handed with the gelatine and a bit mean with the vanilla in the panna cotta, though its strawberry coulis is well-flavoured.

The Drink
The international wine list features a dozen whites (£16.95 – £39.95), two roses (£18.95, £19.95), 14 reds (£16.95 – £75.95), eight Champagnes and sparklers (£23.95 – £125) and a solitary dessert (Moscato di Pantelleria, £4.95 per 125ml glass, £15.95 for a 500ml bottle). A reasonable number are available by the 175 and 250ml glass.

Prumesco, the Italian house white (£4.50/£5.75/£16.95) is a perfectly pleasant quaffer. Trading up a bit, Dashwood sauvignon blanc from New Zealand (£5.75/£7.50/£21.50) has lashings of characteristic gooseberry and an attractive hint of sweetness. Both come properly chilled. The house red (again Italian Prumesco at the same prices) is simple and spicy with a short finish, whilst Salice Salentino (£4.95/£6.50/£18.95) is disappointingly pedestrian. Both reds arrive in small glasses, even though proper-sized red wine glasses adorn every table, so a good swirl, which might have woken up the Salice Salentino, is not possible.

There’s a commendably big selection of spirits, liqueurs and liqueur coffees. All the usual coffee options, like single or double espresso, cappuccino and filter, are in place. Although the only advertised tea is a pot of Breakfast, Earl Grey, green tea and herbal teas like chamomile and peppermint are also available.

The Last Word
If you can overlook the occasional menu misdescription, this relaxing Italian with its attentive staff is a useful West End standby. Prices are no bargain; you could easily spend £50 on three courses with half a bottle of modest wine once you’ve factored in extras like bread, potatoes and a vegetable. That kind of money could certainly be spent more excitingly elsewhere but, if you want to roll away the years and rediscover breaded mushrooms, spaghetti Bolognese or veal escalope, this is a pleasant enough place to do so.

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