Centonove

The plate-sized flounder turns heads and is sold out by 8pm; the suckling pig has been a big hit too. But this handsome, long-time, well-loved local has plenty more to keep regulars returning. Menu mainstays might include steamed zucchini flower with crab, or lemon-crumbed veal. Pastas are house-made, with sauces that beg to be soaked up with crusty Baker D. Chirico bread. Service is informal but meticulous, glasses topped up, linen crisp. Much on the menu is excellent: a tasting plate includes vitello tonnato, carpaccio and figs with gorgonzola. Scallops are lifted by cauliflower puree and crisp pancetta. Lamb rack has lovely accompaniments, a palette of pea puree, burghul and goat's curd. But other dishes perhaps don't hit the same mark - fettuccine with porcini feels too lush with oil. Crisp-skinned barramundi atop fregola in a saffron, spanner crab and tomato broth seems shy with flavours. But desserts reward stayers: hazelnut ganache with chestnut millefoglie and honey icecream, or a classy little plate of petits fours.