Locanda Locatelli

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http://www.locandalocatelli.com

Locanda Locatelli, 8 Seymour Street, London | The Independent

Interestingly, for a boy who grew up in the family restaurant in northern Italy, Locatelli trained in fine French kitchens including The Savoy in London and La Tour d'Argent in Paris.

Wary of Italian restaurants in London, I was slow to go.

Blow-by-blow: a likeable starter of mondeghini di verza (£5) is motherly cooking let loose in the dining-room – small cabbage-wrapped, herb-scented meat-balls served with leaves of golden pan-fried risotto cake.

Locanda Locatelli is, for me, London's most north-Italian restaurant, and at the same time its best, effortlessly combining a level of luxury with a sense of comfort.

And love that at last there is a great new restaurant in London designed to offer comfortable, civilised dining at prices that are not greedy and grasping.

Locanda Locatelli, London – Godfather of Italian | gen.u.ine.ness

His eponymous restaurant, Locanda Locatelli, has held on to its Michelin star for more than 13 years.

Only a traditional Italian a la carte listing antipasti, pasta, fish, meat and desserts.

We decided to order an antipasti, meat and dessert each and split a pasta course.

Risotto is all about the stock the rice has been cooked in and here the risotto rice had been cooked with a stock made from the shells of the red prawn and as such had absorbed all the rich, bisque flavour from it.

The strengths of his kitchen are the salads and their pastas, and in the future I will stick to ordering a salad and 2 pasta dishes, skipping the meat/ fish course.

Major Foodie Review - Locanda Locatelli

The dishes here proved fulsome and capable with some good breads in the mix as well and whilst I didn’t leave punching the air, the service and offerings were on general form as a competent Michelin starred venue.

Although I gather the kitchen has had a make over in recent years, the dining room, decor and furniture appeared very much the same from my visit 6 years ago and much as I like the round banquettes and layout of the room, the cream coloured leather on the sofa seats were clearly in need of a similar facelift or change as ours appeared worn and stained in parts.

This version was served with sugared amaretto crumbs on top which had a lovely crunch to them and although I had to forage for seemingly half a lifetime to get to the actual soaked biscuit base, this wasn’t actually a problem as the very best bit was the light, yet well-flavoured cream I had to wade through, so not a problem!

The white chocolate ice cream had an almost perfume-like quality and was not a scratch on Le Gavroche’s version; the lime ice cream was a little too sharp for my palate but noteworthy with its delicate marshmallow sticks; even the pistachio ice cream was a little bit heavier and stronger than I would have preferred.

Overall, I was pleased to be back here at Locanda Locatelli to see a better side of the food and although it does not have more reasonable set menu options, the staff were very accommodating throughout and it was a pleasant visit all round.

Review of London Italian restaurant Locanda Locatelli by Andy ...

The pasta had very good texture, the ragu had plenty of flavour and there was a good bite of chilli (16/20).

I didn’t spot it at the time but our wine was on the list at £95 but appeared on the bill at £97, which was a small thing but rather naughty.

With a modest wine to share a typical cost per head for three courses might be around £90.

Service was efficient enough up until it came to pay the bill.

The cost seemed quite hefty given we had no pre-dinner drinks, a bottle of wine between three and a salad, pasta and dessert each, the pasta attracting a £4.50 supplement if ordered in place of a main course.

Locanda Locatelli: the menu is a varied treat of little treasures ...

It’s almost hard to believe this place is 15 years old: most restaurants fade with time, quietly forgotten and left to their devices.

Not so with Locanda Locatelli, which always seem to have a light shining on it as someone new stumbles across the place and declares it the best Italian in town.

Despite being in a hotel, usually the places culinary ambition goes to die, Giorgio Locatelli reaches broadly across his country for ingredients, ideas and inspiration, never sticking too closely to one style, and accordingly the menu is a varied treat of different little treasures.

Just do pay up, whatever they ask: years ago the restaurant manager took a man's wife hostage on her 29th birthday when her husband objected to the price of truffles – and they still said the food was divine.

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Locanda Locatelli | Restaurants in Marylebone, London

The menu is just as before, ranging voraciously through styles, regions and ingredients (some little known).

There’s technique aplenty, but it’s food made to be relished as well as admired.

The comfortable surrounds allow the food to take centre stage.

The wine list is a positively educational survey of Italy’s regions, with good choices, particularly of dessert wines, by the glass.