A wine lake in SW1

In the 19th century, the Royal Opera had a thriving rival in Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket, where Verdi's I Masnadieri was given its world premiere in 1847. Now I Masnadieri (The Robbers) has moved across to Covent Garden, along with the rest of the operatic repertoire, and Her Majesty's has been left with The Phantom of the Opera.

Nearby, at the bottom end of Regent Street, the Italian link continues with IL POMODORINO, which opened at the end of last year and offers rather good value.

The room is huge, catering for around 300, but the night I went it was only moderately filled, which made it hard to create the busy atmosphere it needs.

The decor is stylish and contemporary, with lightwood finishes. The kitchen occupies one side, with windows allowing a clear view of the internal workings. There's a separate area for preparing pizzas, and, judging by the narrow slices we were given to sample, these are excellent - real thin-crust and ranging in price from £7 to £9.

The staff are extremely helpful and on the whole quite knowledgeable about what they are serving.

The baked sardines (£5.50) with endive provided a tasty starter. Tuscan ham with pecorino cheese and focaccia (£8) was a more predictable combination, but was beautifully presented, as are all the dishes here. Ingredients are well sourced from Italy and the menu offers a good combination of Italian classics and less conventional dishes. Main courses rely heavily on beef, veal and chicken, with some fish dishes. The fillet steak (£17) was agreeably mature, well seasoned and finely flavoured.

I didn't enquire whether the fish are from Italian waters, but the grilled, mixed seafood with rocket and cherry tomatoes (£14), whatever its origins, was simple and delicious.

Wines here are a bit of a problem - the wine list is far too long and complicated, with a choice of hundreds of Italian wines ranging from under £20 to well over £200. The Montepulciano I chose from the several listed was not available and I was told they are rearranging the list.

The waiter suggested an alternative, at £35 rather more than my original choice, but very enjoyable nonetheless. However, they insist on serving red wine in

The home-made ice cream (£5) is as good as you would expect from Italians and the millefeuille with poached pears and balsamicvinegarflavoured zabaglione (£7) was enough for two. I only managed about half, but it was light and well flavoured.

The bill, with gratuity, came to about £110, but for that we ate splendidly and it is certainly possible to eat here for much less. Raymond Gubbay will present an arena production of Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall from 17 February 2005 for three weeks. More details on 020 7838 3100.

Il Pomodorino

4-12 Lower Regent Street, SW1. (020 7321 2100)

Monday-Saturday, 11am-3pm, 6-11pm. Average for two: £70.

Pomodorino
4-12 Regent Street, London, SW1Y 4PE