Pick a Number for foodie joy

"Where?" shrieked my very chic west London-based friend, when I told her we were going for dinner opposite Euston station. "It's going to be a very cool area soon," I assured her, blabbing on about the regeneration of King's Cross, eventually persuading her there might be a good reason to schlep across town.

In fact, Number Twelve proved to be a very good reason indeed. This new restaurant is housed in the once faded and suddenly very contemporary Ambassadors Hotel in Bloomsbury. The food is modern Italian, with quality, well-sourced ingredients.

The set menu, £17.95 for three courses, is excellent value, but we went for the a la carte. I had melt-in-the-mouth salt-crusted seared tuna with a sweet fennel salad and roasted cherry tomatoes (£5.95).

My pal chose a very pretty steak tartare, topped with a poached quail's egg (£6.95). My skate (filleted) came with hot mash, pak choi, capers, tomatoes and olives (£13.95), while my friend's salt marsh lamb, served with samphire grass (£15.95) was, she declared, divine. An Italian rosè (Scalabrone Rosato di Bolgheri, £26.50) recommended by the waiter proved a wonderful accompaniment. The sorbet dessert (£5) included an incredible Valrhona chocolate variation - almost like a frozen mousse - and a superb selection of ewe's cheese from La Fromagerie (£8.95), always a sign of a classy joint.

The bill was the right kind of surprise: at under £100 for what we agreed was the best meal we'd had in ages, it's a good idea to get there quick - before the whole of west London traipses in.

Number Twelve
Upper Woburn Place, London, WC1H 0HX