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more I tend to go with nowadays as a full bottle between two won’t necessarily complement conflicting dishes, while two bottles might seem excessive! Bottles run from about £17.95 so is perhaps a shade more expensive than at Fabrizios. All in all a great little restaurant


wine by the glass, given I don’t know a great deal about Sicilian wines, and her selection was perfect for the dishes we had. The light and lemons theme is


emphasised in the décor of the restaurant which is a perhaps less stark than Fabrizio’s original. Comfortable seating, wooden tables attractive lighting, plenty of pictures of lemons! While there is an excellent selection of


pastas and risottos, these differ from the almost standard ones one finds in most Italian restaurants – with a focus perhaps on seafood oriented dishes, a focus which also extends to the main courses on offer too, although there are also some excellent meat choices. There is a good selection of starters and we began with a shared fritto misto with bottarga mayonnaise– large and small prawns, squid, baby octopus, grilled sardines – stronger tasting than expected perhaps, but far from the tasteless rubbery stuff that is sometimes served under this name elsewhere. Other options could have been seared scallops, prawns carpaccio, tuna prosciutto, baked mackerel timbale, mozzarella with Sicilian caponata, Sicilian bean soup with spicy squid. Starter prices range from £6.95 (the soup) up to £11.50 (the prawns) with most in the £9-11 range. For the main course my companion


had one of the pasta dishes, Bucatini with sardines, sun dried tomato, capers, sultanas and toasted breadcrumbs which she pronounced superb, while I had roasted rabbit legs stuffed with mushroom paté and wrapped in speck, with mashed celeriac and wilted french beans – served beautifully. Rabbit, which can be tough and dry was really tender, and well complemented by the celeriac mash and


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the beans were cooked perfectly. But there were a number of other main dishes which also really appealed – veal T-bone, pork belly, rump of lamb, tuna, swordfish, amberjack, sea bream – all cooked Sicilian style. Prices for the meat and fish dishes were mostly in the £14-15 range with the veal T-bone at £17.50. Pastas again were varied, but with the Sicilian theme – if you want to splash out on a pasta dish there was a half lobster spaghetti with toasted sesame seeds, brandy and cherry tomatoes at £15.95, but most are around the £9.95-£11.95 mark. We forewent desserts – but settled for


coffee for me (really good strong coffee) and herbal tea for my dining companion. To be honest, the desserts didn’t look that exciting although I’m sure they were fine – basically mostly Sicilian takes on normal Italian sweets – semifreddo, cassata, cannoli, tiramisu etc. The wine list is primarily Sicilian -


thus from an island which produces excellent reds and whites, but there is also a selection of well known mainland and Sardinian Italian bottles. Several are available by the glass which more and


offering interesting and very tasty food, a nice ambience, good service – and it won’t break the bank. For Fabrizio’s aficionados definitely one to try out. A little more costly perhaps – say around £30-40 a head for three courses without drinks or service, but good value by area standards. Certainly one to go back to again – there are so many unusual and interesting dishes to sample.


Luce e Limoni is open Mon-Sat 6-10pm (Fri- Sat -11pm) and is at 91-93 Grays Inn Road, WC1X 8TX. Call 02072423382 for reservations.


Beagle – a great way to spend a Friday lunchtime


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f you are visiting the Geffrye Museum on the Kingsland Road and are looking to perhaps combine the


museum visit with a lunch or dinner – or perhaps coffee or a drink, an excellent new bar/restaurant has opened right opposite the Geffrye’s back door on Geffrye Street under the railway arches next door to Hoxton station. The restaurant is called Beagle – don’t ask me why, although our waiter came up with a story about an old steam train with that name which used to run through Hoxton station in the past, a factoid borne out by Fay Maschler in the Evening Standard. The bar, restaurant and adjoining café


Beagle’s bar and restaurant frontage showing the outside eating area


Luce e Limoni on a balmy summer evening – as can be seen the restaurant is designed so there can be a completely open frontage onto Grays Inn Road


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