Murano

Went to Murano tonight. Dreary decor,lippy staff and complex menu that had no rhythm. I ordered the mozzarella and tomato to start. It was served on a giant plate. The food was lost on it. It was about 4cm in diameter. Three mouthfuls later gone. next I had the mushrooms on toast from their veggie menu. Revolting. Had a look at the desert menu but again too complex nothing seemed to go. I asked for a fruit salad which was very nice. Little chocs were served with the coffees but they tasted sour or off.
Anyway would not go back ,over rated and lacked atmosphere. We were told to be at resto at 7pm and out at 9pm. We asked waitress if she would take a photo of our tabe and she responded that will cost you another ten pounds. We said we'd heard the restaurant had one an award and she replied she'd make sure we'd be charged more. I don't think it's very classy when waiters/waitresses think they're your mates.
Anyway thumbs down to Murano. All I can say is I ate a better meal in a locally family run trattoria in Murano only a few weeks ago!!!

Angela H certainly knows her stuff and likes to lead from the front. She was on the serving hatch all night this week when we enjoyed excellent if expensive food there on Monday evening. Unfortunately I didn't feel very well the next day and can only hope this had nothing to do with her habit of tasting every dish with a spoon. Now clearly this is great in terms of quality control but tasting EVERY DISH, HERSELF with the SAME SPOON? All I can say is we better hope she hasn't got swine flu or something worse.

So my very respectful tasting tip for Angela would be use lots of spoons or to rinse and dry the single spoon between tastes. This would be better than the current system which seems to involve an occasional wipe of the spoon on the back of her apron.

Apart from this the food and wine were excellent and the service good and I got over my stomach issues within 24 hours.

What is it about Gordon Ramsey and his heavy handed approach to dining ? We booked Murano for a table at 7pm. On the day of the booking we were told they needed the table back at 9:30-that was no problem. On the day of the meal they called us to confirm that they needed the table back by 9:30-again no problem. We promptly arrived at 7pm for our 7pm booking. The first thing that was said as we entered the dining room was “ we need the table back by 9:30”. I am not exaggerating.There was no “Good evening- no nothing”. As far as I am concerned, if I arrive on time to a restaurant ,when they get the table back becomes their responsibility not mine. I felt as welcome as a nun at an orgy with that greeting. I certainly did not feel like a valued customer. CChurn and burn was more like it.
We then sat down when a waitress came over and asked if we needed help with the menu-we didn't but she wouldn't take no for an answer and proceeded to explain that the starters were on the left hand side and mains on the right. Well duh!!! When this happened all the bad memories of… More

I dined at Angela's new joint for an ‘a la carte’ luncheon priced at £55 for three courses, and I was pleased to see that the transition from The Connaught to this smart location seems to have gone very smoothly on all fronts. The decor is a tad bland, or what an interior designer might call modern-minimalist-Art Deco-chic, but I liked it. It follows the slick modern formula that many top restaurants are now adopting.

The food, inspired by Angela’s Welsh-Italian roots, was excellent, though my partner’s starter of squid ink tagliolini was overpowered by lemon and chilli. My starter of quail agnolotti with a white onion puree, truffle and Savoy cabbage was nothing short of perfect.

For a main I had roasted halibut with a potato galette, wild mushroom duxelle and cep veloute, which again was executed perfectly. To accompany all of this, we chose a reasonably priced Rioja that went down very well indeed.

Service was predictably smooth, though beware of their mirrored toilets; apparently there is a gents loo and a ladies loo, but there are no symbols on the… More

Dinner for 4, Thursday night…The Decor of Murano is tasteful, the staff are friendly but service could be more discreet – I don't want to have a conversation with the waiter/waitress on every visit to the table. The food was tasty but my main course of red mullet was over cooked. The Sommelier made some excellent recommendations on both bottles of wine but again, I really didn't want to spend 15 mins talking to him about it! If you haven't been, I would suggest a visit as Angela runs a tight kitchen and my guests and I had a great night – but I wouldn't go back a second time due to poor value for money.