Anima e Cuore

Every time I’ve been here, I’ve enjoyed delicious and beautifully crafted home made Italian food. There is no menu, but it’s a joy to listen to the different specials being read out. We had home-​made pumpkin and amaretto ravioli and ox cheek on polenta. I would book well in advance. Oh and it’s BYO!

Although the space feels like a back room lunch counter, the food is extraordinary – as in, slow down and savour each moment of the taste. Our meal last evening ranged from some serious pastas to offerings to delight a picky vegetarian with a melting spinach gnocchi for starters and ravioli stuffed with barratta– the velvet of cheese. My starter was a cone of fresh tuna with accentuating vegetables brought to a melded lump of deliciousness– accented with caramelised onions and — I think– an avocado sorbet. My main was perfectly prepared tagliatelle with just enough chew to stand up to the flavours of the garlic, clams and caviar. The other diner had barratta with hazelnuts, plums & savoury biscuits– these danced together. Anima does not serve alcohol so we brought our own; another challenge or benefit, depending on your sense of adventure, is there is no menu, the lovely wait staff read off the possibilities in gorgeous Italian accents and you are ready to order everything. The down side is you have no idea how much each dish cost– but there were no sticker shocks– for a truly artisan meal, we paid about £25 per person –starter, main & desert. Highly recommended– need to reserve.

Well everyone I was with loved this Italian home restaurant. I thought it was ok but had my reservations. The main dining room is in the middle and therefore there is no light and it is quite a close quartered environment, but not quite a submarine. The starter was delicate tuna tartar, and the main was black spaghetti for me, which was pretty good. Maybe I have been to aitaly too many times, as the food is obviously the normal standard. But the prices are elevated as it is a byo. The staff were friendly which is always nice.