Trying out Faros, serving up top pizzas and Mediterranean hospitality just off Oxford Circus

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The bustling dining room at Faros

What should we know about Faros?

This Mediterranean-Italian restaurant first opened its doors a few years ago and since then has been busy doing its own thing, drawing in a steady stream of weary Oxford Street shoppers looking for somewhere good to eat off the main drag.

Where is it?

You'll find it on Great Portland Street, literally a minute's walk from Ikea Oxford Circus and the tube station. It couldn't be handier for shoppers, but it's also a useful place to know about if you're headed to anything at the Palladium nearby. They also have another branch over in Holborn too.

Where should we sit?

There are plenty of choices in this department. When we visited on a busy Wednesday night, the place was absolutely heaving. There are several tables that are great for group bookings, and as the restaurant straddles the corner of Great Portland Street and Margaret Street, it also boasts two large and heated terraces if you fancy dining alfresco.

The wraparound terrace at Faros

And what sort of food is it?

They describe it as Mediterranean/Italian, but it definitely leans more towards the latter, with the menu focused on fresh pasta and pizza. That said, there are plenty of small plate options too, so this is the kind of place you could pop in for a glass of Chianti and some bruschetta, or stay for longer.

Here's what we had to give you an idea:

Arancini (£18) - a great example of arancini done well; these were stuffed with provolone dolce cheese and mushrooms

Wagyu Bresaola Carpaccio (£20) - one of their newer dishes served with rocket and parmesan

Truffle Pasta (£30) - tagliatelle with butter, black pepper, parmesan and a generous heap of freshly shaved black truffle

And, for us, the star of the show was the pizza, which genuinely held its own with some of the best in London.

Truffle pizza (£27) - this was frankly delicious and a lot of that was down to the cheese mix of Fior di latte, Gorgonzola and Grana Padano. But the crust was also really good too.

What is there for vegetarians?

There's plenty on the menu for those wanting a plant-forward meal, from the vegan pizzette marinara to start and vegetarian La Fungosa pizza. And salads and sides like the following two are also veggie-friendly.

Burrata salad (£16) with heritage tomatoes and a punchy basil sauce.

Zucchini fritti (£9) - maybe the only dish we think could have been improved: this needed less frying time.

Room for dessert?

Absolutely, and it looked like everyone around us was doing exactly the same as us. In addition to a lovely affogato (£10), we doubled up on coffee with their homemade tiramisu.

Tiramisu (£10) - a light, creamy version of the classic dessert. We thought we were full but apparently not as we finished this off easily.

What about the drink?

The wine list does cover all territories, but it obviously pays most attention to Italy, with a bottle of Italian Merlot or Soave starting at £38 and going up to a beefy Brunello at £140. But we would also urge you to try their cocktails. In addition to a tiramisu version of an espresso martini, we also enjoyed this.

Faros Breeze (£17) - one of the restaurant's signature cocktails made with a chamomile-infused Belvedere vodka, yuzu, white wine and apple juice.

Overall thoughts:

At first glance, you might think Faros was aimed more at tourists. And, sure, this is popular with visitors to London, but honestly you'd be missing a trick by leaving it just to them. That pizza was really, really good and despite the place being rammed, service was not just on point but super friendly too. A lot of trendier Italian spots would do well to emulate them. In the weeks running up to Christmas, you should definitely make a note of this the next time you find yourself up in the West End looking for somewhere handy to go that's actually good.