As our eyes glistened with every joyous mouthful, we quickly realised that we were experiencing some of the best Italian cooking in the capital. Striking a good balance between finesse, intricate detailing and hearty portions, L’Anima is an excellent high-end Italian restaurant.

Located behind Liverpool Street station, on prime City real estate, the design of the room has a stark, bare feel with its all white furniture and floor to ceiling widows, but bursts into life as soon as the food arrives.

A light starter of crudo di tonno and avocado involved a thin line of small pieces of raw tuna alongside a line of finely chopped avocado and a red pepper sauce. A side order of tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella doubled up as an extra starter. Both were simple, fresh, and delicious.

An (inter)course of stracciatella, ricotta and swiss chard tortelli, rich with brown butter, hazelnuts and aged balsamic was utterly divine. I wish I could tell you more about it but the memory is lost under a haze of pasta perfection.

Main courses are labelled as such with additional options under the josper grill. A towering black scotch beef tagliata was served layered atop a marrowbone encased in mash potato, surrounded by a heavily reduced jus with chunks of blue di capra cheese.

Thin, light and crunchy zucchini fritti arrived in a huge bowl, and we almost wept with joy.

Pre and post dinner drinks can be enjoyed in the adjoining bar, an equally all-white affair but with bright purple/pink under-lighting running along the bar – the intention is to add a little jazz to the bar area, I’m sure, but it looked a little odd to me.

While the bill can quickly add up from the a la carte menu, L’Anima offers a number of good value options. A bar set menu is available for lunch and dinner with a limited menu for £16.50 for 2 courses or £19.50 for 3 courses, including a glass of house wine. You can’t argue with that.

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