Time to ditch the Atkins

As anyone who has seen the enchanting film Big Night will know, American Italian food is very different from the real thing. The US love of carbs dictates a side dish of pasta with main courses; and the pasta itself is slathered, rather than dressed, with sauce.

And the pizzas: thin crust, chewy with toasty bits underneath, made to be scarfed by hand, folded over to contain the heavily loaded topping. Mulberry Street claims to be the first New York-style 'neighbourhood' pizza joint in London and it gets pretty close - its search for authenticity leads it to filter water to match samples from New York.

Whether you like that sort of thing is a different matter: I ended up with a compost heap of raw-ish mozzarella and green peppers on the side of my plate before I could attack the doughy base. Eggplant Parmesan was dense and greasy. But the spaghetti marinara that came with my tasteless breaded chicken escalope was surprisingly good.

Every table in the buzzy, funky space bears a cake stand. Why? To balance the mammoth, 20in pizzas upon - enough to feed three people (or two Americans). A cheap, fun place to go in a group for a bite of the Apple - but that's about it.

Mulberry Street
Westbourne Grove, London, W2 5RT