Oscillate Wildly

The term 'date' restaurant usually means somewhere that's eager with the dimmer switch, heavy-handed with the mood music and carried away with the candles. But this Newtown charmer provides the ideal setting for a cosy, intimate evening without any pretence. Tables are on the small side, but that just means you're that much closer to the one you're with. Karl Firla gives his light, delicate dishes textural interest, often hit with a sweet Asian accent. A first course of hazelnuts and aerated foie gras on a scallop crisp suggests surprises are in store. And so they come: delicate scampi tartare with jicama and puffed wild rice; an autumnally compatible match-up of pine mushrooms, samphire, goat's curd and walnut sponge; speck-wrapped beef with egg yolk and crisp brussels sprouts leaves; and a delicate rose petal sorbet with fresh and freeze-dried berries. For some, three hours of dining might be a bit of a stretch; all the more reason, then, to be here with someone special.