The Pasta Brown empire in Covent Garden was founded here in 1994 in Bow Street, after years of Farmer Brown sandwich bars providing some of the best in London, when it was decided to expand into the restaurant business offering Italian dishes, specialising in quality pasta, based on long experience. It has always been very much a family business in that inimitable way that only those with heart can play it.

The owners never do things by halves so when you walk in you are left in little doubt about the nationality of this restaurant, nor the warmth of the welcome. An ambitious but thoroughly credible menu starts with the antipasti dishes, whilst mussels mariniere are on the carte, it is the provençale version that catches the eye, with tomato, garlic, chilli and white wine.

The pasta dishes, nearly twenty in number, with penne Pasta Brown as their eponymous leader, bacon, sausage and mushrooms in a creamy sauce, trawl the whole gambit of this much loved staple, giving hard choices to make, particularly bearing in mind the delights yet to come. Italians also have their own take on the burger in the form of meatballs with bacon, grilled vegetables and melted cheese on a toasted garlic ciabatta, served with house fries and a Napoli dip. To demonstrate the width of their approach pesce spada takes a valued space on the menu, succulent swordfish pan-fried with a twist of lemon and pepper, served with new potatoes and mixed leaves.