Forty Dean Street

The set menu had a very reasonable amount of choices. Really enjoyed the squid ink risotto!

I’ve been there a few times. Once post-​theatre, once for lunch to see a friend visiting London with her kids and once for dinner with old mates. I’ve had good experiences every single time.
This is not a place for an intimate first date because it’s small and gets crowded and thus is a bit loud. It’s not a place where you can just show up with a huge crowd and hope to find a table, because of the reasons above. But if you want a good pizza or pasta dish, and you have a small group, then it can be perfect.
The last meal there, I had the pork belly off of the set menu (they will allow you to order just one dish from it for a set price, which I believe is £10). It was well cooked with a nice bit of sauce and some veg. Perfect. The meal for four came to £100, including tip, in which two people got starters, we all had mains, and averaged about 2 beers each. Not a bad deal at all!
It’s a solid go to place, and I’m sure I’ll be back again.

After running into some friends in Soho, we (a group of 8) decided to come here last minute for dinner because they could seat us immediately. They told us we would only have an hour and a half because another party had reservations but we didn’t mind. The restaurant itself is very tiny and once the bar was full it was almost impossible to move around inside.
Everything on the menu looked great and I decided to order the Caesar Salad with prawns. Big mistake. The salad came with about eight pieces of lettuce and 3 or 4 tiny prawns. Not to mention, the lettuce was practically rotting, I could barely eat it. The only reason I didn’t say anything was because all of my friends received their dinners about 10 minutes before mine arrived and we were also running low on time.
I reluctantly finished the salad but I was still starving so luckily my friends were willing to share. My favorite was a chicken dish with mashed potatoes but there seemed to be a lot of hit and miss with this place.
Considering the area it is in, you will definitively find better food elsewhere. However, if you order the right thing then it could be a pleasant experience.

I went here on a sunny Saturday with a friend for lunch and it was wonderful! We had a three course meal from their set menu which was both delicious and great value for money.
They played some great, relaxing music throughout which set a good mood. They ak charged my phone for me as it was running very low!
Recommend!

I joined my friends late (between main and dessert) for dinner on a Saturday. It became clear very quickly that there was a very slow service. This was the overarching theme of the evening, it turned out, and was exemplified by the time taken to take our dessert orders and bring them over (so slow my friend’s gelato had partially melted into a pool of liquid…). I later found out that they had only had mains, no starters, which had taken nearly an hour to arrive.
The food — I’m told, also backed up by sight and sound of what was coming out of the kitchen — was great, and a good selection. The interior was nice without being showy, not too many tables crammed in or issues with hygiene.
My dessert was a delightful tiramisu, but our earlier theme continued when trying to get and pay the bill — topped off my our waitress asking inquisitionally «you didn’t like my service?!» when asking for the charge to be removed. Inattentiveness aside, service was adequate, but let down by the. shocking. pace. of. it.
These points were all raised at the time, so hopefully it will filter up the chain and there will be more staff on during busy times in future. What struck me as we left was that there was a group of 4 waiting outside for our table, yet it took 5 minutes to get the card reader.
A pleasant meal let down by the pacing. On the plus side, you won’t be chased off your table after a certain amount of time.

Very happy with the prefix dinner (13.90) with a bottle of wine we added on and then we even opted for the desert for an extra 3 pound. Really happy with the smoked duck! We came with my family for dinner and were truly happy!

Came across this Italian restaurant last night as we were looking for somewhere to eat and decided to try it out.
The food was tasty. I had sea bass with spinach and thick chips, my husband had the chicken risotto. Not sure how my food is considered Italian but it was tasty in any case.
Our server was friendly and efficient. The food took a while but it came out fresh and hot.
So why the 3 stars? Well I took one off because this place is SO noisy that my husband and I had to scream at each other to be heard. We scream at each other enough in normal circumstances… would rather not have to do it during a rare dinner out.
I also took off a star because when we approached the restaurant for a table, another, very rude, waiter said «You have to wait. If I had a table I’d give it to you. You HAVE TO WAIT.»
I have no problem with waiting. I do have a problem with this waiter being so obnoxious about it. Not sure what happened there but maybe he too was tired of screaming in the super loud restaurant…
Bottom Line: Good food but I’m not sure I’d return as there are so many other places to try out in the area.

This place is pre-​christmas, drunken party fodder.
So it’s lucky that’s how I experienced it.
A fairly standard menu cooked to a fairly standard standard.
What this place has going for it is its warmth and buzzy atmosphere. It’s loud, it’s bang in the middle of soho and they sell cold beer to wash down copious amounts of fairly average food. Nothing wrong with the food, just nothing spectacular or very interesting about it.
Lots of drunk people like me in there making lots of noise and if that’s what you’re after then you’ll be OK as that’s what you’ll get at a not unreasonable price.
If you’re after a more culinary experience or something that feels slightly more special somehow, look elsewhere. There are plenty of fantastic Italians all over london from Locando Localtelli to Tarantella to the River Café to Timo to Jamie’s Italian!
Oh, and if you do venture in drunk, beware the stairs to the loo. Many have come a cropper on this house of fun death trap ;-)

Great little spot with a cozy atmosphere, friendly service, simple & well prepared Italian food… and a pretty good wine list.
Stumbled on this restaurant one night and decided to give it a try. I was with my husband and a couple friends and enjoyed a lovely, relaxed dinner. Good food, good friends and a couple bottles of wine… I can’t think of a better way to spend an evening.
We started with a few nibbles: Italian Bread, Marinated Olives and I had the homemade ravioli with sundried tomato and goat cheese & mushroom, which had a good balance of flavors and was comfortingly delicious. We all enjoyed our entrée selections and I even managed to steal a bite from my husband’s tagliatelle
They also have a set menu option available all day which looks like a good value: 2 courses for £12.90 (starter + main course).
I was surprised there were no other reviews for this place on Unilocal.I’d recommend checking it out. I’ll definitely go back again.