which has been home to the restaurant for many years and previously for over four centuries as a butchers, a bakers and - not a candlestick makers - but an apothecary, a medieval chemists.

Add simply decorated white-washed walls with the original beams still showing, a labyrinth of passageways making way to a multitude of rooms and the friendly ghost that quietly patrols the premises, and it's possible to mix as many adjectives as it is menu selections. The place is busy but relaxed; intimate but spacious. Even in midsummer our upstairs room was nice and breezy thanks to a combination of fans and wide-opened, pansy-ordained windows.

After visiting this popular haunt, owned by a famous Anglo-Italian family of restaurateurs many times, it's tempting to stick with the tried and tested. The antipasto misto di salumi (cured meats) or supreme sardine alla Siciliana (sardines with sun dried tomatoes) impressed us previously for example. But this time we had different ideas.

Thick wedges of beef tomatoes and equally chunky slices of buffalo mozzarella with fresh basil and oil for starters proved top notch. In tandem came the best seafood salad this side of the Alps: huge slices of fresh leggy octopuses, juicy prawns, mussels still in their shells and delectable squid and refreshingly no cocktail sauce in sight but simply served at room temperature to allow the flavours to come bursting through.

For the mains we challenged La Margherita by going vegetarian! But the butternut squash risotto rocked: thick chunks of vegetables in a creamy sauce and pleasantly not rich with salt as is common with many vegetarian dishes. And what can be more Italian than a pizza we thought? Alas, we ordered just as a party of 25 arrived and even though the quattro stagioni was good value and generously layered it looked rushed and didn't have the crispy thin base we expected.

As we entered through the tiny main door - be careful to mind your head - we could not hope but notice the adjoining cake shop with a huge array of home made desserts and the famous ice creams from London's Marine Ices and we didn't forget this when it came to ordering deserts.

Like a trusted old friend La Margherita doesn't change. Just like their fine wines or the ever-present waiters, it just gracefully matures with age.