It may represent a return to a more formal age, but at least the food at Murano is worth getting dressed up for

Murano's dress code is clearly stated: "Smart, with jackets preferred for gentlemen. Jeans, T-shirts or sportswear not accepted."

Hang on, is this not 2008? Murano may well be the Gordon Ramsay empire's latest entry into fine dining – having fallen behind in the Michelin-star stakes, he's dying to catch up – but are they really terrified that Mayfair diners will turn up in filthy jeans and fat white trainers? I look around. The most offensive outfit I can see is a blue blazer with gold buttons. Appalling things, they should be banned. And here comes a woman wrapped in what looks like a grubby old apron. They should throw her out. Oops, they can't, it's the chef, Angela Hartnett, come to say hello.

But people must love a dress code, for you can't get a table for love or money. I can nab only a Wednesday lunchtime booking at 12.15 – a little close to breakfast to be looking at foie gras and truffles. The dress code extends to the olive-and-cream décor, as glossy, smart and well-upholstered as a tastefully corporate, well-heeled hotel dining-room. Staff are dark-suited (both male and female), and the whole place feels tight, compact and controlled.

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The food, too, is formally attired. No casual, flip-floppery here, just luxury ingredients, fanned-out presentations and carefully drizzled and painted purées and sauces.

There was much talk of Angela Hartnett going back to her Italian roots after her spell at The Connaught, but this is Italian refined by French technique into contemporary, international luxe. Grilled red mullet comes with crushed peas and white-grape vinaigrette; Gressingham duck breast is teamed with confit leg, mustard fruits and red-wine sauce.

Small appetisers, generously served with both the £25 set lunch or the £55 à la carte menu, are more resolutely Italian – lovely little deep-fried, arancini rice balls; fragrant slices of prosciutto, and a wooden box of good focaccia, sourdough and crisp carta di musica breads.

From the à la carte menu, a slab of pressed rabbit mosaic hides tiny kidneys within it but the texture is that of densely packed mush. It gets blown away by a main-course rack of Welsh lamb, the meat uniformly rosy, butter-soft, and herb-infused. A dollop of aubergine purée spices it up, and a little tortellino of the shoulder meat adds richness. From the set-lunch menu, a single giant raviolo crammed with lightly chopped prawn is a step up from its moussey 1980s predecessor, the sweetness picked up with a little pickled fennel and raisin purée. A simple fillet of sensitively cooked, lightly tanned hake cleaves juicily into a pile of braised lettuce, the perfect lunchtime dish.

The wine list goes beyond the same old faces to introduce some interesting French and Italians. An agreeably forward-thinking sommelier, Marc Andrea Levy, leads me to a dry but full-bodied 2003 Ascheri Montalupa Viognier (£10 a glass) and a gamey, perfumed 2004 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin (£12/£70).

The meal ends in a gustatory hailstorm of sweetness, with cute little poppets of tangy fruit sorbets and ice-creams; chosen desserts of richly gloopy roasted figs drowned with a rich, warm zabaglione, and a neatly crafted pear-topped frangipane tart; and a prattle of accomplished petits fours ending in a miniature, slightly heavy tiramisu.

Angela Hartnett and head chef Diego Cardoso are a formidable team, with force and finesse in equal measures, and their £25 set-lunch is our new happy meal. But why do we keep coming up with such formal, conservative restaurants, corseted, gold-buttoned and whispery quiet? Is it Mayfair? Is it Michelin? Get rid of the dress code, lighten up, let in a maverick or two, and we'll all have a bit more fun.

16/20

SCORES: 1-9 STAY HOME AND COOK 10-11 NEEDS HELP 12 OK 13 PLEASANT ENOUGH 14 GOOD 15 VERY GOOD 16 CAPABLE OF GREATNESS 17 SPECIAL, CAN’T WAIT TO GO BACK 18 HIGHLY HONOURABLE 19 UNIQUE AND MEMORABLE 20 AS GOOD AS IT GETS

Murano, 20 Queen Street, London W1, tel: 020 7592 1222. Lunch and dinner, Mon-Sat. £55pp à la carte; £25pp set menu

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