Italian at Piccolo Diavolo, Soho

My husband went to this restaurant with his friends and ever since he has been promising to take me there. We finally went on the Chinese New Year as we wanted to avoid the crowd in China Town and good thing we did, we saw long queues outside each popular Chinese restaurant once we hit the celebrations. We went without a booking on a Saturday afternoon, but thankfully did not have to wait at all.

The restaurant is really cosy with quintessential Italian feel and look. The tables had the red and white checked table cloths and fresh flowers. The place was almost full and the two waiters were rushing all around.

We decided to skip the starters and my husband ordered a pepperoni pizza while I ordered the wild mushroom risotto with garlic bead, washed down with a glass of rose wine for me and house white wine for my husband.

I have been craving for a plate of risotto for sometime and the one that came was awesome. It was rich and creamy, full of flavour and cheese. I have had risotto that was overcooked, making the whole thing a mess, but this one was just rightly cooked and the rice was firm and did not stick together or become a pulp, yet made a gooey whole. The portion was so big, that even a glutton like me could not finish it. The garlic bread was actually pizza dough full of garlic flavour, very different from the garlic bread we are used to having in American pizza chains.

The pizza that they served my husband was superb. It had a thin crust and not an over load of topping, but just right. I did not think my husband could all of it by himself, but he did and also the risotto that I could not!

The pace of the restaurant was very relaxed and no one rushed us. After the meal the waitress tried to tempt us with dessert-- cheesecakes and tiramisu. Since we were sitting next to the refrigerator we could even see the goodies stored inside. They looked tempting and she told us how the strawberry cheesecake was freshly made and all gooey. But I was stuffed and had to pass it. By husband had an espresso and we decided to hit the Chinese New Year celebrations.

We had a lovely meal and we are definitely going back there. The head waiter was a bit too busy, so much so that he hardly had the patience for us to finish ordering! But the waitress made up for the guy's rudeness and abruptness, she was very friendly and attentive. She definitely made our experience enjoyable. Though at the end of the meal the head waiter did come back and checked on us.