Luce e Limoni - Italian (Sicilian) Restaurant — Restaurant in London

We recently visited London for a few weeks, and found this restaurant very close by to where we were staying. We're from Canada, and though we've visited Italy before and absolutely adored the food, we've never been to southern Italy. It was exciting to try Sicilian! The restaurant ended up being so lovely that we went twice, once for an early dinner and once for a late lunch. It was off-peak both times, and while there were other patrons in the restaurant, it was not full and we enjoyed the space, especially with two kids. There is also a large TV at the back of the restaurant, which was cool as the first time we visited, there was a big Euro match on.

The restaurant has an inviting, comfortable vibe, and is beautifully appointed. The host/owner is very kind, charming, and welcoming! The choice of background music was interesting (there was a lot of Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams kind of stuff?! not that we expected Italian opera but it was amusing and not particularly loud, in any case...and as my husband quipped, "Bon Jovi's Italian!").

One small quibble I do have is that while the special set menu (which was slightly different both times we came) is printed on paper, the regular menu is online. While the website is laid out well, I really do prefer to see a hard copy menu.

The portion sizes were all very pleasing, and everything we ordered tasted so good, with fine flavor, and all things perfectly cooked. The items we ordered over two meals were (some were on the regular menu, others were from the special set menu): salmon and mint fishcake, grilled stuffed squid, parma ham with melon, and smoked salmon platter with "spaghetti courgette" (starters; my daughter and I absolutely loved the smoked salmon and courgette! what a wonderful combo, and the squid was also delightful); stuffed duck leg with speck and port, rigatoni with fried aubergines, tagliatelle with venison ragu and truffle oil, bucatini with spiced pork belly ragu, veal and mozzarella tortelloni, pan fried salmon fillet with almond and saffron sauce, and black linguine with scallops and asparagus (mains; I especially loved the venison ragu and tagliatelle; my husband enjoyed the duck so much that he ordered it both times; our son couldn't get enough of the bucatini, which I also tasted and to me it had a strong fennel or anise flavor); lemon and thyme Sicilian cheese cake, home made tiramisu, amaretti and caramel semifreddo, and cardamom pannacotta with berry compote (desserts; the pannacotta and semifreddo were hits; I also tried the cheese cake, not realizing it was not a "cheesecake" but more of a denser cakey-cake...the host asked me if I wanted coffee or tea with dessert, and he sort of did it in such a way that even though I didn't think I should have coffee in the afternoon, I ordered one, and you know, the cake really needed it! they were very nice together, indeed).

We loved our meals at Luce e Limoni, and will certainly return the next time we...

A friend and I popped in to this cute Italian, not far from our offices for a quick mid-week dinner. The place was relatively busy but we managed to secure a mid room table without reservation. You can leave your coats by reception if you prefer but I chose to keep mine on as I had a slight cold. They have a set menu and an a la cart. We had the Aubergine burrata starter, which was tasty. My friend ordered a pasta dish and I ordered the seabass. The seabass came with some tarragon sauce and as i do not eat tarragon i asked if i can have it without the sauce. They offered a lemon butter sauce as an alternative, which was divine with the fish. For dessert we opted for the lemon panna cotta, i assume that is their signature dessert given the team of the place. It was very rich and flavourful. We had a chat with the owner who told us about the story of acquiring all the lemon shaped chandeliers for the space which are a were a wow factor for me. They are spectacular and really make the space unique. The restaurant is a nice little place with friendly service. Its reasonably priced for central London. I recommend it for in town dinner whenever you are looking for authentic Italian. Keep in mind they do not have pizza...

Thoroughly enjoyed our meal after being recommended by the owner of another Italian restaurant around the corner. The set menu was excellent value. I had a delicious piece of hake which was perfectly cooked; pearly soft inside and toasted skin, served with a wonderfully delicate saffron scented sauce. Came with perfectly cooked vegetables instead of mash, as I requested. We loved the twice cooked pizza which had a lovely crispy base with just the right amount of bend. Delicious tomato sauce and fresh spicy basil. The bread was soft and tasty with a herb crust, house red was very drinkable! Gelato was delicious! The restaurant is very pleasantly calm and the acoustics mean it is easy to hear your dinner companion. Particularly if you struggle with noisy restaurants. The only thing I think could substantially improve matters would be a plethora of candles to cast a glimmer of light on the underside of the the wonderful chandeliers! The waiting was superb by both owner and staff; unobtrusively friendly, warm, and happy to have a...