L’Eto Caffe operates a string of six venues in London, all of which serve a pre-prepared display of savoury items, sumptuous looking cakes, baked goods and a variety of hot and cold drinks, all of which are available for either take out or eat in. The savouries are sold by weight (about £2.80 per 100gm) and include the likes of Georgian aubergines with pomegranate, walnuts and coriander, and baby spinach salad with goat’s cheese, dried cranberries and nuts. The Kings Road and Belgravia branches also have an à la carte selection of starters and mains for those seeking something prepared to order.

We were in the Kings Road branch after a spot of shopping and we found it to be an inviting location with bright colours and mouthwatering salads on display. The salads looked great but we decided to try the à la carte menu instead with our first starter being a crab and avocado salad with soy and lime dressing (£16). The crab in the salad was lovely and the avocado was ripe and tasty. The dressing was decent and not too overpowering, although slightly less soy and more lime might have achieved a better balance of flavours between the two.

Crab salad

We really enjoyed the garlic prawns (£13) as they were fat and meaty. It wasn’t strong on the garlic flavour, but the accompanying flat bread was crispy and the avocado and paprika salsa was a pleasant addition to the dish.

King prawns

To the mains, and a beef fillet served Tagliata di Manzo style (£28) was excellent. The beef was exceptionally tender and very tasty and had been beautifully seared to a juicy medium rare. Lightly dressed and well seasoned, there was also a nice balance of rocket leaves and Parmagiano Reggiano.

Beef fillet

We didn’t enjoy the duck and chestnut tortellini pasta (£16) however. The filling was mushy, and the pasta was poorly made as it was too thick, too doughy and heavy.

Duck pasta

All the cakes on display looked incredibility tempting, and with the amount of choice on offer it was hard to settle on just one. We ended up trying the honey cake (£4.80), a delicious, crumbly textured dessert layered with cream. A carrot cake (£4.90) was also superbly moist, and the cream cheese icing was excellent.

Honey cake

We found the pasta at L’Eto Caffe to be a let down, but the rest of the items we tried from the à la carte menu were tasty, fresh and nicely done. It’s solid food for a cafe that offers up an informal, low-key dining experience. The counter items may be worth considering for those just wanting a quick bite to eat.

Summary Information:

Food rating: 3.5/5

Prices:
3 courses from the a la carte menu at the Kings Road and Belgravia branches – £30 to £48. Price of salads are by weight. Excludes drinks and service.

Website: http://leto-caffe.co.uk/