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Situated on Fulham Palace Road, almost directly opposite Charing Cross Hospital, Luigi's is just like any other good Italian restaurant anywhere in the world. Bruschetti, salads, pizza (�7), pasta, secondi (�11) and a good range of desserts (�4) - nobody would award Luigi's a prize for originality, but then frankly that's the last thing you want from a traditional Italian restaurant. What they do do is quality food - their pizza is the best I've found so far in London. Their risotto was good too, although not quite up to the excellent standards set by The Gate, nearby.

The house red was very drinkable, at �10 a bottle.

The ambiance of the restaurant was excellent - the walls are frescoed and the tables are indeed lit with candles in bottles - in many cases the dribbly wax has built up over the years until it doubles the size of the bottle. Luigi himself sits in the corner by the kitchen, chatting with passers-by.

A reasonable selection of vegetarian options are available. Vegans are probably out of luck, frankly. The restaurant does not have a non-smoking section (although interestingly pipes and cigars are both banned), but none of the clientele were smoking during our visit. A sign outside says "15% off for students, hospital staff and patients with 30 stitches or over".

The business card I stole says "Sorry I haven't go [sic] enough space to describe my beautiful restaurant - you will have to try, to believe me - Ciao Luigi"

And don't believe the web site. They don't seem to open on Sundays, as I found out to my expense... Went to Crabtree Tavern, W6 9HA instead.

From the Porters: Over the last few years my husband and I have developed not only a taste for Luigi's fantastic food, but also a good rapore with Luigi and his wife. This is a warm and friendly family-run restaurant where you immediately feel at home. Luigi really enjoys watching people enjoy his restaurant, and is quick to tell you about Italian businessmen who make a special effort to eat his pizza whenever they are in the country, citing it better than they get at home! Quite recently his basement room has been refurbished. Sitting down there you really could be anywhere in the world with fresco'd walls and rough bricked ceiling and all manner of things hanging from the ceiling. Visit on a Friday evening for live music - often Jazz. My husband's favourite is the Asparagi don Luigi. Be warned though, the pizzas are considerably larger than the plates, so if you've eaten that day, you might want to share one. They also do deliveries.

Another not so good review...

I wouldn't normally write a review but I felt I should advise people against using this restaurant. A friend and I decided to try eating here. We ordered 1/2 litre white wine as advertised on the menu. I was expecting a bottle but we received decanted wine that was very cloudy and had visible particles in it, as if they had collected a lot of dregs and put them in a dirty bottle. We asked that they change it for an unopened bottle of wine. I was further surprised to be offered a bottle that did not have the year printed on it. The liquid looked very yellow reminiscent of a white wine that is at least 3/4 years old. The food was not great either being a combination of undercooked & burnt.