Clearly C-London must be doing something right since the place was packed on the weekday lunchtime when I recently visited the restaurant. Maybe it’s just that people still want to be seen here, but even if C-London was in the vanguard of ‘destination restaurants’ some years ago, it seems difficult to believe that it has been able to sustain this mantle. Indeed, when we ate, the majority of the other diners were suited with barely a D-list celebrity to be seen. C-London could be a nice restaurant based on its décor, a homage to art deco with a hint of Italian chic, but one simple failing was evident from the moment we walked in – the tables are far too close together. This restaurant is about as far from intimate as one can imagine, and dining is rarely pleasant when shouting or constantly having to lean towards your dining partner is involved. In addition, the service we experienced was best described as poor. We asked for one main dish to be shared between two and were informed this would be sufficient (combined with our starters). On arrival of the main, it was clearly far too small for two, yet either they omitted to tell us this beforehand or something got lost in translation. Upon our surprise, yet without asking (but still charging, of course), they proceeded to bring us a second helping. This arrived long after we had finished the first and the moment of hunger had passed. It got worse. While theoretically enjoying a leisurely coffee at the end of the meal, my cup was literally whisked away from under my nose despite being not empty and returned with half-sneered apology. This is not what one would expect from a place charging £12 for a green salad and £28 for sea-bass tagliatelle. Not that this would be a specific reason either to return to or to endorse C-London, but the food did at least make up for the rest of the experience. My salad of artichoke and avocado with which I began worked well, an interesting combination, light and well-presented, surrounded by a pyramid of parmesan shavings. The sea-bass tagliatelle main had good balance with the piquancy of the cherry tomatoes nicely offsetting the perfectly prepared pasta and its olive oil-based sauce. Nonetheless, one can do at least as well for food and certainly much better in terms of service and price elsewhere in London. Give me Cecconi’s any time…