Piccadilly Zilli

Most pedestrians wandering up and down London's Brewer Street in Soho would probably rather their presence went unnoted.

This once seedy, now partially cleaned up, trendy thoroughfare near Piccadilly is home to restaurateur Aldo Zilli's latest venture, Zilli Fish. His third restaurant in the area - a brasserie, Signor Zilli, and the Signor Zilli Bar both reside in neighbouring Dean Street - Zilli has chosen to declare his presence proudly with a boldly-painted, glass-fronted, corner site.

Zilli Fish offers a menu of fish and seafood dishes, featuring five or six new items daily. Not coincidentally, Zilli hails from Pescara, a small fishing village in Italy, where his father was a fisherman.

However, there are three meat dishes, including Zilli's signature suckling pig, on the seafood-biased menu. "The profit margins on fish are not that huge," admits Zilli. "But if you work it properly and serve it fresh to people you can incorporate dishes such as pan-fried cod and goujons of plaice, which are not so expensive."

The menu prices reflect Zilli's determination to draw in a mixed clientele. For those without company accounts to run up, the combined fish and pasta dishes provide a wide-ranging and affordable choice (from £7.90 to £9.90), including home-made squid ink ravioli stuffed with crab and prawn and served with tomato cream and basil sauce.

The long bar, complete with fish tank, and a plush seating area invite customers to drop in for a beer and a plate of oysters, or a glass of wine and some pasta.

For those who want to splash out there is Zilli's spaghetti with fresh lobster main course (£15), seared swordfish served on a Caesar salad (£15.50) and mixed fish brochette barbecued in a Thai marinade served on coconut rice (£16.50).

"My main worry with opening this restaurant was that fish is expensive. But my idea to mix it with the pasta worked straight away and after that introducing expensive fish dishes has been easy," says Zilli.

Starters include marinated king scallops chargrilled on rosemary sticks, served on baby spinach; and tuna carpaccio with parmesan and rocket, lime and olive oil dressing (£7.50), which has proved a classic example of learning from your mistakes. "This is an experiment that worked. The chef accidentally froze a fresh tuna that should have gone in the fridge. All my cooked fish is fresh that day," says Zilli. "But when fish is frozen it is really easy to slice, so I put thin slices on a plate and used the lime to ‘cook' it. And it has become the most profitable dish on the menu - we sell two tuna loins a day out of that alone."

The pasta theme continues on the dessert menu (all £6), with pancake tagliolini, raspberry purée and white chocolate ice-cream, where the pancakes are thinly sliced lengthways to resemble strands of pasta. However, most desserts are a combination of two Italian passions - ice-cream and fruit.

Zilli Fish, Brewer Street, Soho, London. Tel: 0171-734 7786