Food Review: La Tagliata Comes To Fitzrovia

If you want to see a real test of a restaurant's capacity for good-times, visit on a night when they're having power issues. La Tagliata's new, Fitzrovia restaurant is struggling with electrics on the evening we're there, lights stuttering in and out, servers hustling in and out of the dining room in mild fluster, flipping switches and fuses.

Things fall back into place surprisingly fast. More candles are brought out, lights switched off, the kitchen gets itself mysteriously but completely back on track. We spot punters arriving and being briefed on the problems, and almost all of them decide to stay: the restaurant goes from gently busy to nicely buzzy.

Starters are steepish in price but big on flavour: the spicy king prawns with an added thunk of richness from the lobster laced through the tomato sauce, the tuna tartare fiercely citrusy and slightly sweet, packed together with chunks of avocado and strawberry.

We're less blown away by the wild boar pasta from the specials menu - the creaminess of the sauce so... well, creamy, that the butchness of the meat gets muffled out. But the Bottarga e Carciofi linguine is a fishy, briny beauty, studded with shredded bits of artichoke, anchovies, capers and grey mullet roe — a host of competing textures and a burst of saltiness with each forkful.

There's the option of moving next door to the attached wine bar for a digestivo, but we stick around for a cloud-light, lightly bitter tiramisu instead — less because we need another course, and more because with all the candlelight and loud toasts being made and glasses clinking, La Tagliata's a nice place to be.

Still graceful, even under pressure.

La Tagliata, 45 Grafton Way, W1T 5DQ.