We were having a cocktail at The Opera Terrace, which is on the far left side on the second floor if you're facing the Covent Garden building. We ate here about 3 years ago and it was good. It was 4:30 p.m. and the restaurant didn't open until 5:00, so we had a couple of cocktails at the bar. While settling our tab, my husband asked the bartender where a good place to eat would be and she said, of course, "Here." But he told her we'd already eaten there. She then suggested an Italian restaurant, which was on the street behind Covent Garden Market--Southampton Street.
Walk two blocks along Southampton Street to The Strand and the restaurant is on the corner to your right. We walked in without a reservation and were seated right away. Of course, it was only 5:30 p.m. Throughout the evening, though, more people came in and as the dozen or so tables upstairs were full, people were sent downstairs.
For starters I had the beef consomme and my husband had the Buffalo Mozzarella with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. And for the main courses we had mushroom risotto and Veal Milanese. With this we had a nice bottle of Italian white wine. Everything included, the total charge on our credit card statement came to $114.67. The only thing we sort of found fault with was that the mushrooms tasted and looked like they were out of a can, although the waiter assured us that they only use the freshest of ingredients. The service was good and the upstairs has a nice ambience to it.