2 Veneti

Excellent italian food. Has a very good selection of Italian wines. I was pleasantly surprised by the sommelier’s recommendation. Service is warm and friendly, just what you’d expect from an Italian restuarant.

Very tasty Italian food, attentive service, absolutely price worthy. old world ambience, very nice place.

2 Veneti in Marylebone does tasty Italian food and combines it with a matching wine list and friendly service.
On a warm evening, I walked into Italian restaurant 2 Veneti in the heart of Marylebone and soon was given some good bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar — just as you would expect from a decent Italian place.
Looking through the wine list, I decided to go for something special — an Italian sparkling wine, spumante, produced like a champagne. It was a great dry and fresh wine, excellent to kick off my little dinner.
As starter, I ordered the wild rocket, pear & parmesan salad with balsamic dressing. Personally, I could have done with a little bit less rocket. The pear was really refeshing and overall it was a delicious dish.
Moving on, I went for «bigoli in salsa d’anatra», kind of like thick spaghetti with duck ragout. It was a lovely and light plate of food with a beautiful duck flavour and a tasty sauce. On top of that, the food went very well together with my sparkling wine.
Unfortunately, none of the desserts sounded really interesting, so I left without a dessert.
2 Veneti does delicious dishes and offers a good wine list. Its central location makes it a great destination for dinner, for example before going to a concert at nearby Wigmore Hall.

I have to preface this review by saying that various things prevented me from having a great experience here, and though that might not be the restaurant’s fault — this is my personal anecdotal review.
I was invited last minute to what turned out to be a senior management meeting — I was called up because my big big boss wanted to tell me something and figured that a nice meal to go along with it in the company of big shots might be enjoyable too.
The atmosphere of the place was very enjoyable and set the mood quite well, a very old school feel to it. I went with the chicken liver pâté as a starter and then the calf liver as the main — at the suggestion of the waiter (who was very convincing and definitely knows what he’s talking about — and is very adamant about a dish being served a certain way). The chicken liver pâté was most excellent, but I couldn’t handle both the chicken and calf liver in one go. The calf liver was very nicely grilled, but overall it was a bit too much liver for me for one meal.
Because I had recently suffered a concussion — so I was on a strict no alcohol diet, which precluded me from enjoying in the wine, limoncello, and grappa during and following the meal. Overall, I believe had I ordered appropriately and been able to indulge, it would have been a 4-​star meal. But, due to circumstances, I shall give it 3 for now with a promise to return and give it another go.

Great food and nice old-​world style place. Get the 3 or 4 course meal as portions are appropriately smaller. Great wine too.

2 Veneti has got to be close to being one of the best Italian meals I have had here or in Italia (and I’ve travelled all over Italy). The only thing that made it a little less than relaxing was the slightly frantic/​over exuberant service, it felt as if everything was being done at 100mph and it kind of wore me out just watching it. That isn’t to say that it wasn’t excellent and extremely welcoming and friendly service, because it was, it just felt as if it could’ve been turned down a notch.
The food was extremely good however with my only slight complaint being the pan fried scallop and pancetta antipasto, although it was tasty I felt the scallops could’ve had a bit more colour on them to really enhance the flavour. My Primo Piatto of Parmigiana di melanzane was absolutely amazing, a mouth watering heaven of Mozarella and melanzane my only complaint was that it was only a relatively small portion. Next came my Veal scaloppine, at this point you have to understand that I have a thing for veal (Mi piace molto il vitello) and when frequenting Italian restaurants I eat it a lot, saltimbocca alla romana, scaloppina di vitello, milanese I love it, this veal however has to be hands down the best veal I have ever had bar none. The only way I could possibly fault it was to say I could’ve eaten a lot more but that is purely because I was enjoying it so much I didn’t want it to end. My wife’s pannacotta and my cheese and port were excellent, lots of variety of cheese including the best Pecorino I’ve had outside of Sardegna and a pear chutney that was deliciously spiced.
This was all topped off with a complimentary grappa, all in all one of the nicest Italian meals I have ever had, although 2 veneti is not quite what you would call fine dining it is certainly close and better than a lot of restaurants I have been to that pitch themselves in that arena. My advice is don’t judge them on their website alone as its unbelievable naffness almost put me off the restaurant itself. If you’re undecided on where to get your Italian food fix and 2 Veneti is on your short list, give it a go because I doubt you will be disappointed.

I returned here on Saturday night and it is still every bit as good as it always was!
The tempura style mixed fish was a delight and the beef carpaccio was tremendous. What a place!

Returning «home» to London where I lived for several years — but had been away from for over 15 years — I decided to walk the breadth of the city on a stunning October Saturday afternoon. From Embankment all the way through the City, then Holborn, TCR, towards W1 and my friend’s flat on Seymour Street in Marble Arch. It’s a loooong way.
I was nearly home by 8pm when my feet and lower back screamed «you must sit your ample arse down and eat,» so I did. It was either that or lay across the hood of a London cab and fall asleep. I was challenging myself to keep my cash and *not* give in to a taxi.
At the time of said foot/​back/​arse revolt, I found myself standing in front of a smart but inviting looking bistro where some well dressed front of house people were whizzing around taking care of happy-​looking customers — neither all local or tourist, but they had that «we know where we’re eating» look… Can a customer table look brainy? What does that even mean? I imagined they were literary agents, economists and artists. I am probably high. Never mind.
The tallish fellow seemed relieved when the faint-​looking woman with backpack and iPad opted to come indoors (if only to phone a paramedic perhaps). I practically fell into their arms. They gave me a table, a lovely big round table by the window. They treated me like a queen and fed me gorgeous, perfectly prepared food. Venetian pasta for starter, followed by a Fritto Misto that was to DIE for. Light, light, light. Never hovering, they sensed when I needed a bit of something. I asked for lemon for my pasta (an anchovy paste, acquired taste but I love it — needed a bit of acid, and Mr. Tall and Handsome stepped behind the bar, cut a whole, perfectly ripe lemon and presented the entire thing to me on a plate).
The whole meal was like this. Simply prepared, perfect ingredients. Expert but non-​fussy service. Yes, they do that «Italian man» thing — Señora this etc., very elegant… but *not* cheesy. They have clearly grown up in this business and breathe it naturally.
This single woman traveler was treated like a visiting princess — by both the gentleman and the lady wait and host staff. I particularly thanked them for this experience, the woman server especially, and she said «But of course, you deserve a lovely meal, and it’s quite normal of course.»
In her world perhaps, but in my experience it’s a bit less common for a single diner to be so cossetted. :) To reward them, I’m taking my host and his mum to dinner there tomorrow. And if my husband puts me out with the cat because I’ve spent too much, I shall move back to London and ask for a job waiting tables at 2 Veneti. Perche non?

2 Veniti is an fairly average Italian restaurant. I thought the food was okay (one dish I had was over seasoned) — I believe a good Italian restaurant should have really fresh mozzarella but this wasn’t the case. I thought the food was overpriced for the quality.