Review of 'The Va Bene'

Formerly known as “Topo Giglio” a stalwart of the Soho scene serving up excellent Italian food in warm, personal surroundings, the family have now retired with others stepping in to re-open and re-invent themselves as “Va Bene”. The food is still very good indeed. We started with fresh asparagus (mine with poached egg and hollandaise sauce, while my companion had goats cheese on top) which was very tasty indeed (though the sauce I found a bit more lemony then would be ideal). My main course, on the recommendation of the friendly staff, was spaghetti with fresh (very fresh) lobster which was tasty if not a bit ordinary with the bland tomato sauce accompanying it. The lobster was very well done and tasty though – the pasta perhaps a bit too al'dente for my taste (almost chewy). I guess this was my overall impression of the food – Very good but not quite excellent. We skipped the desert consisting of various Italian gellati and cakes. The staff were definitely a highlight as they went out of their way to make us feel welcome in the sadly under-utilised basement (140 seats with only about 10-12 of us there – to be fair though, it was a Thursday night, perhaps on Friday or Saturday it would be busier). The price was fairly average for the area with us paying about £30 each with our bottomless bottled sparkling/still water and a few side drinks. Worth a visit if you are not bothered walking into a rather unpleasant area of Soho (sex shops, night clubs, etc).

Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2010-05-29

Cuisine: Indian

Address: 46 Brewer Street, London W1F 9TF

Public Transport: Piccadilly Circus

Location: London (England) - Soho

Map:

Telephone: +44 (0) 207 437 8516

URL: http://www.thevabene.com/