R.R.Gill's review of Locanda Locatelli

I had a superbly enjoyable trip to Locanda Locatelli last weekend and the restaurant lives up to everything you'd expect. Decor is quite contemporary and smooth and the tables spacious enough and chairs very comfy indeed. The food was as you'd expect excellent – nothing over the top in presentation and you get the feeling that the food is all about the taste rather than making it overly pretty. Not to say presentation wasn't good however. Our starters were tagliatelle di castagne ai funghi selvatici (home made chestnut tagliatelle with wild mushrooms ) and tortellini in brodo (meat parcels in a clear broth ) both totally delicious. I couldn't decide on my mains so persuaded my wife to try medaglioni di cervo, porcini, crema fritta e radicchio (medallions of venison with cepes, panfried cream and radicchio) while I had filetto di branzino in crosta di erbe e sale (fillet of wild sea bass in salt and herbs crust ) – to be honest they were both so good I wish I could have had both! For dessert I went for the cheese selection which may sound boring but finished the meal off perfectly. We'd asked the sommelier to select a glass of wine to match each course from the list by the glass and he did a superb job. I was pretty surprised how full the restaurant was considering we dined at 2pm – the full sitting a testament to Giorgio Locatelli's skill and hard work. Prices are pretty high but it's easy to see what you are paying for – definitely a great place for a special occasion.