Fresh thinking takes a swipe on Great Portland Street

The first thing that you’re asked upon arrival at Vapiano on Great Portland Street is ‘Have you been here before?’ which in London usually means that you’re in for something new and exciting.

The major difference between Vapiano and other Italian restaurants is that rather than being served by traditional waiting staff, you are simply given a card that you need to swipe across a reader when ordering your food from the various food counters.

Pasta and pizza both have their own counters as does salads and antipasti in this vibrant, modern space. Next to the pasta counter is a machine that regularly churns out fresh pasta, whilst in the pizza corner, freshly kneaded bases are regularly thrown into the air by the pizza chefs.

We chose to sit at the high tables on comfortable bar stools and went through the menu, which is divided into groups, with dishes in Group A costing £5.50 and those in Group D for £8.50, reflecting the relative cost of the ingredients.

Having eaten (and reviewed) far too many pizzas recently I decided to go with the Insalata Cesare and Bruschetta, for which I took a visit to the salad counter. I placed my order with the chef behind the counter and as expected, was asked to put my card against the reader, which added £8.00 to the balance.

I then stood back and watched as a good handful of cos lettuce leaves, a spoonful of croutons and a ladle of cesare dressing were tossed in a stainless steel bowl, transferred into a dish and topped with a cherry tomato and parmesan shavings, before being placed on the counter ready for me to eat.

For the bruschetta, two thick slices of ciabatta were again cut in front of me and sent around a toaster before reappearing crisp and golden in colour. Rocket was added to the plate along with two healthy spoonfuls of tomato, onion and garlic salsa, all of which took less than a minute to prepare.

In this time Emily had returned too with her pesto pasta and glass bottle of Coke. All the ingredients used at Vapiano are fresh and this is instantly recognised in the tasting.

The cesare salad leaves were crisp and cool; the croutons had just the right crunch and the wholegrain mustard cesare dressing held it all together perfectly with a real kick that was softened by the mature taste of the parmesan.

The ciabatta for the bruschetta was similarly crunchy with a soft and chewy centre, although the tomato salsa topping tasted a little too similar to that with which you would see off a bag of Doritos. At £8.00 for two superb, freshly made dishes however it is difficult to pick fault.

When it comes to settling the bill in Vapiano, you simply walk over to the till and swipe your card, then pay the balance, there are no annoying 12.5% discretionary service charges and the whole process is effortless. It’s a great concept for London and one I’m sure that we’ll be seeing a lot more of.