Faros Holborn — Restaurant in London

I recently saw quite a few videos on Instagram about this place and have also walked past it multiple times so I thought I would finally give it a try to see what my verdict would be. I came here on a Sunday night with a friend for an early dinner and we had booked a table before. As soon as we got to the entrance the receptionist greeted us with a friendly smile and let us choose between two tables so we naturally went for the one at the corner next to the bar table for some privacy.

We ordered the fresh truffle pasta and pizza Margherita. My friend is vegetarian and she was very happy and impressed to see that there were so many veggie options on the menu, so this is a great place for vegetarians. The truffle pasta was just as promoted in those Instagram videos - REALLY delicious with a strong truffle taste. What we enjoyed the most about this dish was how cream wasn't used in the sauce and yet the truffle taste was so rich and strong you could taste it in every single bite. We both thought this was probably the best truffle pasta we have had in London so far, second best would be Flour and Grape (it's slightly more creamy). It's definitely reflected in the price charged as well so glad to see that it was value for money in a way! Pizza Margherita was really good as well, I loved the thick crust which was also crispy and a little chewy, just how I like my pizza. It's a simple dish but one that satisfied us fully.

Waiter who served us the evening was extremely polite and friendly. We had a really good all-round experience at the restaurant. I am definitely coming back soon to try the other things...

I booked a table at Faros, very last minute and at the end of the day and i was so glad that a table was available for me to treat my partner.

I booked through OpenTable and it was quick and seemless. I needed to ask the restaurant a question, and did this through OpenTable as well. I wasnt expecting a reply in time as it was so very last minute. But they did reply. So i was very happy to be accommodated by them.

On arrival we were greated by Tan, a very friendly and attentive waiter. I chose the Fresh Truffle Pasta and my partner chose his favourite dish, the Spaghetti Carbonara, with a portion of Focaccia to share. I'm vegetarian and have an intolerance to chilli and mozzarella, so you can appreciate an Italian restaurant can be a challenge, but not so here, despite my dietary issues, i still had a couple of options.

It didn't arrive immediately, which, when it does, it always makes me wonder how fresh it is. The time it took was exactly as I'd expect if it were being prepared freshly. Not too long, just right. Were asked for the focaccia to arrive with the main course so we did have to wait for any food to arrive. This may have made the wait time feel less, if it came ahead of the main dish.

On arrival it looked beautiful, was delicious, hot and cooked perfectly. We were offered the sweet menu on completion, however decided to go for a tea and a hot chocolate to finish off the meal.

In total we spent around £30 - £40 per head, including a glass of wine each and 12.5% optional service charge.

Well worth it.

Thank you Tan, and...

Honestly, I don't get the high rating. For what it is, it's very expensive food. They could seriously do with cutting down the breadth of their menu to perhaps lower the costs because it's about £6-8 more expensive than it really should be. There are simply better Italian places for the price, but this place wasn't bad. The pasta is made here so it's very delicious with a lovely texture. I had the linguine allo scoglio and the sauce had a nice consistency, not too watery not too thick, it stuck to the pasta well and had a very mellow sweet flavour without being too over the top. The sun dried tomatoes were very nice in the dish and we're clearly freshly dried. It came with squid and prawn in the sauce and while the prawn was flavourful and went well with the saffron, the squid was a little overcooked and very chewy. The portion was a little small and I counted and there were only three prawn and two pieces of squid in my sauce which is unforgivable for the price. Overall, I'd give this place like a 3.4/5 or a 3.6/5 it's in that ballpark. Go here if you don't mind splashing a bit more than is worth, it's not bad food it's just not the quality I expected for the price range, in fact even a little bit of a price drop I could see myself...