L’Anima (Italian) – London, England (8.5/10)
Aug 22nd, 2009 by admin
Background:
L’Anima, which means ‘the soul’ in Italian, attracted much attention at the recent Taste of London food festival. I didn’t sample any of Francesco Mazzei’s dishes, but the feedback from fellow food bloggers was so positive that I added the restaurant to my wishlist. Mazzei was once employed by Alan Yau as head chef at Italian restaurant Anda, which hardly anyone seems to remembers, but I had a rather good dinner there once. And he was head chef at St. Alban (where I had a disappointing meal last month) before opening his own restaurant last year.
First impressions:
The interior is minimalist and stylish, with white leather chairs, huge floor to ceiling windows and a cleverly designed wall so that diners can see into the kitchen. We were seated in the corner by the windows, a good position from where we could observe everything. The clientele on a Monday evening predominantly consisted of older men in suits, although later I counted about six women in the room. Not having been there before though, I can’t say what the lunchtime or weekend crowd is like.
Sommelier Gal Zohar (@zoharwine on Twitter or ‘the wine man’ as he likes to call himself) introduced himself soon after we were seated. A couple of days before, he learned about my impending visit through my comment on The Epicurean and had said hello on Twitter. I thought it would be interesting for Gal to choose our wines, pairing them to each of our courses, particularly given my ignorance about wine in general. He also very kindly gave us a tour of the gigantic kitchen, and later the wine cellar.
What we ordered:
The menu, which is online, features dishes from Calabria, Puglia, Sicily, Sardinia and beyond, with Mazzei’s own ‘modern’ interpretation. There is a helpful list of ‘definitions’ for diners, explaining perhaps less familiar terms such as colatura – anchovies water, licurdia – Southern Italian soup and n’duja – spicy spreadable salami from Spilinga, Calabria. We decided, in the interests of research, to order four courses each, which incidentally was far too much food.
- wood roast aubergine with burrata (£7.75) – I love the creaminess of burrata and this combination with the slight smokiness of the aubergine, a vegetable I’ve only recently started to appreciate more, worked very well. This is the cheapest starter, but if you’re on four courses, it’s a good choice because it’s light and fresh
- ventresca tuna salad with beans & bottarga (£11.50) – this is belly tuna, moist and tender. I only had a small bite, but would definitely order this next time. I’ll never be able to eat any other type of tuna salad now!
These starters were paired with the Pinot Bianco, Alois Lageder 2008 from Alto Adige.
- taglierini with garlic, chilli & crab (£10.75) – trying to pace ourselves, we were both after something light for our pasta course. I chose well! The crab meat was so sweet and succulent and the size (you can choose from small or large) was perfect
- pappardelle with three shrimps and ‘colatura’ (£11.00) – this would have been my other choice (see above photo), with large crunchy shrimps and a light tomato sauce, with the subtle flavour of the colatura
These courses were paired with the Vermentino Riviera Ligure di Ponente « Le Serre » , Lupi 2007 from Liguria.
- spit roast leg of lamb with grilled zucchini & roasted potatoes (£20.50) – I think I made the mistake of ordering this medium-rare, when it would probably have tasted better cooked medium. However, it was still delicious, particularly with the accompanying zucchini and roast potatoes
- black pepper aged beef tagliata, marrow bone & mash (£27.50) – see first photo. We were impressed with the presentation, with the beef slices balanced on an upright marrow bone filled with mash. The mash was the best part of the dish, with marrow, black truffle, white truffle oil and Parmesan (here’s Mazzei’s recipe on UKTV)
We were also served a complimentary dish of zucchini fritti which we nibbled on. I’ve been meaning to make this at home for ages now with our courgettes, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to replicate this!
The mains were paired with the Nebbiolo, Coste della Sesia, Travaglini 2006.
- panna cotta with wild berries (£6.50) – it was impossible to finish this gorgeous pudding, one of my favourites, even though it was quite light. The berries I couldn’t leave behind though…
- liquorice zabayon (£7.00) – this was paired with a glass of Aleatico di Puglia, a Mano 2007, the only one that Gal didn’t choose. I love the texture of zabayon, though I couldn’t manage more than a mouthful as I don’t really like liquorice in any form. My friend seemed quite pleased that I didn’t have more…
The verdict:
There are quite a few people waiting to read this review, which therefore made it quite difficult to write. I think I need to return a couple more times to work out my favourites, as everyone else who has been to L’Anima seem to have theirs. From this meal, I think mine were the burrata & aubergine, followed by the taglierini. Generally, I very much enjoyed the clean, fresh flavours and light sauces of each dish that I sampled. I also need to eat one less course next time, in order to enjoy the meal more!
Apart from the à la carte menu, L’Anima offers a set lunch menu, 2 courses at £23.50 and 3 courses at £26.50, with three options from each course to choose from. And if you want a more intimate dining environment, there is a beautiful private dining room. However, I recommend booking the table in the wine cellar. It probably can seat up to 6 people and as long as you’re nicely wrapped up, as the room is chilled, it would be perfect for a group of friends.
Dinner for two with alcohol and service charge cost a little over £90 per person (a huge heartfelt thank you to my friend and WFG supporter!)
You can see the entire set of L’Anima food photos here.
10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact details:
L’Anima
1 Snowden Street (a paved street turning off Appold St at no. 9)
Broadgate West
London EC2A 2DQ
Tel: 0207 422 7000
info@lanima.co.uk
www.lanima.co.uk
Opening hours
Restaurant:
Monday to Friday
Lunch – 11.45 am – 3 pm
Dinner – 5.30 pm – 10.30 pm
Saturday from 5.30pm – 11pm
Bar:
Monday to Friday
From 11.45am – 1am
Saturday from 5.30pm – 11pm
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
Stunning! I love Italian food and after months of “intending” on coming here, I will be making my visit on Monday. Your write up is making my mouth water already!
Helen, it sounds like you enjoyed it just as much as I did, what a great write up!
Damn that looks good….too many places to visit the next time I go to London!
Hmm, do you worry about reviewing places when your arrival is anticipated? I think L’Anima is one of the better restaurants in London in many categories esp. food and service, but, still, being shown around by the sommelier would put a glow on any review. You didn’t mention some of the balancing issues, why this is not the greatest restaurant in London, like location and ambience, essentially a certain lack of romanticism which you would want from an Italian restaurant. Which explains the prevalence of older men in suits (as I was on my visit
.
Great review Helen! Am thinking of going there for my next girl’s date night, it’s finally my turn to pick a venue and L’Anima is looking like the choice
very often i used t cook Italian dishes also.. this is an excellent post!! cant wait to visit here. planing t visit London soon
my first visit t this blog and m loving every bit of it. keep it up!!
cheers and have a great day!!
Hi Helen,
I had dinner there a few weeks ago and was back at L’Anima last week for lunch and can tell you that at lunch, it’s still mostly men. That said, on a Friday night, it was far less “business-y.”
The £23.50 lunch menu, by the way, is so-so value, with the offerings being *much* less ambitious than the a la carte menu (e.g., cacio e pepe spaghetti and tiramisu).
It’s too bad you didn’t try the fritto misto, though the fried courgette sticks gave you the general idea.
I really didn’t enjoy the tagierini, which I swear was packed with dill (weird, no?).
As always, interesting to hear your views.
As a general rule if there are lots of men and suits at dinner time you can almost guarantee that will be the exclusive clientele at lunch! Stunning photos but you don’t sound that enthusiastic in your review and reading the comments it sounds like l’anima divides people into love or disappointed.
I think the papardelle looks out of this world (as does the ‘beef ‘jenga’). I love anchovies so I’d be interested in seeing how the colatura is used in the papardelle.
The glossary of food terms is also an excellent idea – it’s something other restaurants should consider.
I was unimpressed when I tried L’Anima’s dishes at Taste of London – the chicken stew and the penne were pretty bog-standard and rather bland. Italian food never really excites me as much as other cuisines, but I would be interested in trying L’Anima out, especially as others have raved about it. The prices are pretty prohibitive though.
tehbus – sounds like you had a good meal here according to your tweets today!
Gastrogeek – thank you, it was a lot of fun…
aptronym – when are you coming to London anyway?
Dan – my arrival is usually never anticipated, but I made the small mistake of announcing my dinner plans on a fellow blogger’s blog. I don’t think being shown around by Gal put a glow on my review. You clearly haven’t read some of my other restaurant reviews! And I don’t think Italian restaurant = romantic at all! I’m also not qualified to discuss the ‘best restaurants’ in London, as I haven’t eaten at enough of them to make that kind of judgement. Not everything has to be stated in black and white anyway, and this is my review style.
nora@ffr – I hope you have a great time when you visit London! Let me know if you need any tips and recommendations…
catty – I hope you’ll enjoy it!
An American in London – you’ve already been twice?! Thanks for confirming the lunch clientele and the set lunch menu…
Gourmet Chick – haha, you should know, being one yourself! I really don’t mind the clientele as long as I have a good time in a restaurant. It was just quite noticeable that it was a predominantly male crowd in suits…You know me pretty well from my reviews. It’s true I wasn’t as excited as I have been about some restaurants. It was very good, but I also ate too much and felt rather poorly towards the end of the evening. I learned a lesson, not to over-indulge!
Mr Noodles – you are right, the glossary should be adopted by more restaurants. People will then be encouraged to be more adventurous, rather than embarrassed to ask questions.
Lizzie – that’s the reason I tried L’Anima, that others have raved about it, although I didn’t try any Taste of London dishes. I agree on the pricing!
Helen Yuet Ling
Helen
I’m glad you enjoyed the meal.
)
I totally agree by the way that it’s probably necessary to eat in a good restaurant several times to get a real insight into the entire range of the brigade as well as consistency of service . ( I have now eaten here more than 10 x
The Kitchen is very accomodating and happy to prepare many dishes that are not on the menu if they have the necessary ingredients.
It’s obvious where I stand on L’Anima it’s one of a handful of Italian restaurants in the UK I continue to frequent and am happy to recommend.
Gastro1 – hello! You’ve certainly eaten there a lot! I wish I could eat more at each restaurant before writing about them. My favourites are favourites because they’re consistently good in every aspect, but they are all places I’ve revisited regularly over the years. I hope to go back again soon!