Today I had lunch with school friends Joel, Rob and their wives Katie and Becky at Locanda Locatelli. Lots of quick witted humour from Joel and Rob, barely more sophisticated than in the old days. Rob and Katie have become such a close couple that they are now finishing each others jokes. Joel and Becky bantering, they don't argue.The atmosphere was sophisticated, yet relaxed and unhurried. The food was classic Italian and the menu is broad with plenty of variation and choice. I thoroughly enjoyed my cured pork neck salad as a starter. The squid which was the other starter at the table looked excellent too. I had veal for my main course. Perfectly cooked, but the girolles sauce was a bit too heavy and masked the flavour of the meat. Desert was the delightful tart of the day. All in all a very pleasant afternoon and for one of London's celebrity chef restaurants at £50 a head I didn't think it was too unreasonable either.
Perhaps I am being ubber critical, but for me there were a few negatives. My apple juice tasted like it was cheap Tesco value and was served warm and without ice. I also think that they were trying too hard with the service and ironically that made it suffer. We couldn't order a bottle of wine from anyone but the Sommelier and we asked for a bottle of water from the wrong type of waiter so it took ages to arrive.
For my money Passione is still the best Italian restaurant in London. Rougher round the edges, but that is part of its charm.
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ReplyDeleteThat was a startingly fast post, but I think I missed out on my 2.45pm bet. We're possibly even less sophisticated than school, but it was good all round. Can't decide if the service was unhurried or slow, but I think I can give them the benefit of the doubt on that. Must head back to Passione soon to check that it isn't on the demise.
ReplyDeleteps I nearly managed to hide the plastic bag ... but not quite.
I thought the speed of the service was just right, but if you were hungry or in a rush it could have been very annoying!
ReplyDeleteI'm up for lots more good meals out. Passione and some more new places!
Bless you for committing today's festivities to eternity via 'tinterweb. For what it's worth I thought the pace of the meal was perfect for a sunday afternoon - much better to leave pauses (as long as they leave bread!) and allow us to enjoy the company and atmosphere rather than blasting through 3 causes and leave after an hour.
ReplyDeletePS - my plastic bag is successfully hidden - must try harder Mr Brown.
I have never been to any of London's elite restaurants and my overdraft thanks me for it!
ReplyDelete