My boyfriend took me here for my birthday on a Saturday night in May 2009. The restaurant had not been open that long, but was already attracting a lot of media attention as being one of the only restaurants to being doing incredibly reall in the recession. And I understand why....

The reception staff were lovely, they greeted us with a big smile and showed us to our table. The restaurant was not full, and it seems they make a policy of not overcrowding it by filling all the tables at once. A really nice touch so that it is not too noisy and overwhelming.

The tables are generously sized with crisp white table cloths. You will not feel that you and your partner are bashing elbows here!

There is a special wine waiter who is on hand to provide assistance (should you need it) and offer advice and opinions. He is incredibly knowledgeable and friendly, and I later erad a review of the restsurant that implied he is one of the best in the business.

The menu is plentiful and true Italian with an added "something" thrown in for good measure. I started with a quail egg salad and my boyfriend had the octopus. Both incredibly delicious. We then had the pasta in pesto and the rabbit. I don't like the thought of eating rabbit, but he assured me it was tasty, but I can confirm my pasta was out of this world delicious and to this day I still get cravings for it.

The dessert menu is the hardest part. The choices all sound absolutely amazing and although you will be very full from your dinner, you will definitely want to try at least one of the puddings!

After dinner we were both so full that we decided to wait in the bar and have a couple of cocktails until our bellies felt less full before waddling back to the train station! The staff were lovely, and helped us pick a coupel of cocktails each, which were all scrumptious.

The staff here are wodnerfully attentive without being intrusive. They have an incredibly friendly manner, and you can see that they clearly enjoy working together and are happy. Their demeanour is not faked in any way.

In terms of price - this place is expensive! But well worth it for a treat. So many other top London restaurants you will encounter snootiness, but here they don't seem to mind who comes in for dinner, whether you are a celebrity or just a regular person - you all get the same treatment.

I would advise you to dress smartly for a place like L'Anima just because the whole restaurant feels so wonderfully posh that you will want to fit in. I'm not talking ball gowns or anything lke that, but smart jeans and a nice top is perfect.