Italian restaurant Attilio, nr Farringdon Station

It was CROWDED Saturday night at Attilio near Farringdon station! This is one of the most popular restraurants I've ever been to. We made our reservations, though, at noon the same day, so no great rush on that. However, there is no room to wait in this tiny restaurant; upon arrival, the doorman (in this case Liviu) pours you a glass of Prosecco, cooling in a bucket on a special table outside. You can sit at an outdoor table (wrapped up against the cold) or sip your wine standing up until being ushered in to an empty table (don't sit right inside the door – very cold!).

Liviu minding the tables at noon for Attilio Restaurant

The menu has the usual pizza and pasta options but with some lovely upmarket items like fresh scallops for starters and sea bass for mains. Despite there being no cover charge, the table comes provided with olives, bread, and olive oil/vinegar for dipping.The minestrone soup was filled with fresh-looking vegetables – good enough to be a meal on its own. Myriads more vegetables accompanied the steak (and they cooked it truly medium rare – a rarity in England!).

For dessert, we chose a tiramisu in a glass bowl (excellent flavour) and profiteroles covered with chocolate. These were not the frozen flown-in kinds of bought desserts but appeared homemade. The chocolate was particularly interesting, being a lumpy milk chocolate rather than the common syrupy dark chocolate. Talking ourselves into ordering brandy and amaretto, we were then chagrined to find that the bill was delivered with shots of the very same amaretto and small macaroons (two each). Wine and juice brought the bill to £68 for three people (no service charge), but considering all the freebies (Prosecco, bread, olives, dip, shots and macaroons), it was well worth it.

The new entrance to Farringdon Station has now been opened, and this area is bound to become more patronized as it is upgraded to match the Crossrail investment. Attilio is a small family-run restaurant, just the kind of independent business we like to support. Visit them at 1 Cowcross Street and help prevent the invasion of the large chains.