Ciao Bella: Always buzzy and happily cosy

Was it named when a world-weary Italian waiter approached a pretty girl and her order of a plate of Parma ham and melon with an outsize pepper mill in his hands? This familiar scenario that for many underpins the London restaurant experience is to my mind enshrined most satisfactorily at Ciao Bella (estd. 1983). Always buzzing — electric heaters outside provide an all-weather “terrace” — with the basement often given over to parties, diners on the ground floor are squashed tight under stills from the heyday of Italian movies, with special attention paid to Fellini and La Dolce Vita. Those traditional Italian specialities salume affumicato and avocado e gamberetti share the menu with insalata tricolore, myriad pizzas, over two dozen pastas, vitello, fegato, pollo, scampi, cassata, torta della nonna, all reassuringly served in comforting quantity. A pianist plays, customers imbibe and often sing. The waiters have seen it all before, even punters ordering super Tuscans like the Ornellaia 2001 at £350. Catching a movie at Curzon Bloomsbury followed by supper here is one approach of mine to “the sweet life”.