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    Il Cestino

    3.3 (48 reviews)
    PriceyItalian, Seafood
    Closed 10:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

    Il Cestino Photos

    IL CESTINO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Touristy
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - Il Cestino

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    Harrison W.

    Food: 4/5 Service: 3.5/5 Ambiance: 4/5 I found this restaurant from one of the food reviewer and wanted to try. When I got there I was a bit skeptical because it has all the flags for tourists trap. I sat down looking through the menu. The server came by and asked if we want something to drink but told him I m still looking through. He seems rush. Later I saw him eating. So he was rushing probably because he didn't have his lunch or dinner. I was left alone for quite some time finally I flag down other server who passed by to order. Then he became my server for the night. They should have better management for things like this. Anyway I ordered their signature beef cutlet, thinly fried with butter and linguine pasta with mixed seafood. Pasta comes with baked top, I scooped up the sauce with the that in the end. Even this place scream for tourists trap, the food has good flavor. So I won't call it tourist trap, it would be more like tourist focused.

    Ashik
    Patrick K.

    Food was great. We had just landed from the US and walked around the area. The restaurant and staff were welcoming. Needed a drink and light bite to get us back to life. The outdoor eating experience was lovely. Ashik was our server and very helpful. Even hooked us up with a welcome limoncello. Or 2. Highly recommend. Especially if you're lucky enough to get Ashik. Salute!

    Items from raw bar
    Suzanne A.

    This is on a sweet little side street with some other restaurants. We had excellent raw seafood here on our first day in Italy. We ordered clams, razor clams and sea urchin. Everything was VERY fresh. The clam was still moving when it arrived at the table!! Very nice Aperol spritz as well. I would not go here seeking pizza or pasta, but the seafood, the specialty of the house was excellent.

    Oso buco
    Mallory D.

    Service was decent, although the waiter told us the meat and cheese platter was 15 euro total, not 15 euro per person. So that was a surprise, with a party of 5. Wine was decent and they had the heaters on outside. I would rate the osso buco with saffron risotto 4 stars but my husband ordered the seafood paella which had broken mussel shells (small) throughout the dish. He cut the inside of his mouth which rendered the dish almost inedible. So that is why I rated a 3 overall.

    Tiffany W.

    This place was recommended by a local so my friend and I came here for dinner on our first stop in Milan for some pizza and pasta. The seafood pasta was cooked in a iron pan with a pizza dough foil. The pizza crust had a great seafood pasta seasoning and was great to munch on with the pasta. The pizza was light and well made.

    Royal Plateau
    Alfie B.

    I was really craving another raw seafood platter while in Milan and decided on Il Cestino after reading some decent reviews of this place. From this outside this looks like a tourist trap, and the prices are relatively higher than other Milanese restaurants I've been to. However the food here was delicious! I ordered the Royal Plateau, and added on a scallop and sea urchin. Every single item on here was extremely fresh and flavorful. My favorites were the red prawns and oysters. The prawns remind me of Argentinian red shrimp: a little sweet and very tender. The oysters were as good as if not better than any of the fancier oyster bars I've been to before. I'm honestly not sure why other reviewers had issues with this restaurant. The food was great. All of the wait staff were friendly and spoke proficient English. Restaurant was in a prime location, excellent for people watching if that's your thing. I would most certainly eat here again, simply for the oysters.

    Linguine pasta with mixed sea food covered in a pizza crust
    J M.

    The food at this restaurant was good. We had the linguine pasta with mixed sea food covered in a pizza crust. This was the better dish with a decent amount of seafood. The other dish was the spaghetti with clams. The amount of clams was low and the sauce was on the bland side. I will echo the comments of another reviewer. The cover charge of 7 euro and the water charge of 3.50 euro (clearly it was tap water in a recycled unsealed water bottle), were too high if justified at all. The entree prices were on the high side, especially the spaghetti with clams. Service was good, but this definitely seemed to be too touristy for my taste.

    Phoebe A.

    My friend and I stopped by this spot as our first dinner in Milan, and of course we got pizza and pasta. Everything was absolutely delicious. The seafood pasta was particularly interesting; it was cooked in a pizza dough wrapping, which was unexpected. All in all, a solid first meal in Milan!

    Fish selection
    Catherine H.

    Stopped here for lunch on a quick visit to Milan. The risotto appetizer was delicious, and the cheesecake dessert might be the best I've ever had. My husband had the sea bass ravioli and loved it.

    Dirty rim as 'bottled water'
    Jamie L.

    Terrible food, terrible service. We ordered meals from the lunch special. Pizza was a wet and soggy mess! In Italy! The bottled water was just tap water in a bottle which we paid €3.50 for. It was also warm and had a dirty rim. Service charge was €7 for crap service. What a waste of a meal in Italy. Not real chefs not real Italian.

    My first time trying the ossobucco and it was delicious! Tender and very flavorful. Generous portion too!
    Shirley T.

    Enjoyed a nice meal here despite the bad reviews. The service wasn't spectacular but it was as attentive as we needed it to be. My only complaint was when we asked our waiter if they had tiramisu he promptly said "No" and walked away. The busboy overheard and saw our reaction and immediately came over and suggested other options so we went with the creme brulée. Nice save buddy! For dinner, I had the ossobucco and risotto for the first time ever and I was pleasantly satisfied. The veal was tender and flavorful, the risotto was slightly undercooked but still delicious. We also had the grilled chicken with rosemary potatoes and pomodoro penne with chicken. All the dishes we ordered were delicious. The interior is industrial meets old school Italian decor. Ambiance was great!

    Pretty awesome spaghetti alla carbonara.

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    3 years ago

    Food was delicious everything very fresh, service was top notch and ambiance was very romantic.

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    13 years ago

    Lovely place, wonderful ambience and good food. Expensive? It's fashon. Try New York!

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    11 years ago

    A wonderful dining experience. Claudio served us with joy and charm. Good fish and homemade ravioli. Delicious cassata for dessert.

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    10 years ago

    Although the food was good and it is in a very quiet and beautiful street it is overly touristic, overpriced and the service is a fake nice!

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    Page 1 of 2

    Il Cestino Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Il Cestino

    I was really craving another raw seafood platter while in Milan and decided on Il Cestino after reading some decent reviews of this place.

    Mentioned in 12 reviews

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    Taglio

    Taglio

    4.3(32 reviews)
    2.3 kmPorta Genova
    €€€

    After numerous years of trips for business to Italy and Milan I finally found a place that can…read moreserve a decent cup of coffee and who actually cares about what goes into it. The people at Taglio offer a wide variety of specialty coffee from different origins and where one can select the method (V60, Aeropress etc). Execution is good but their own roast is good (don't get me wrong it totally beats anything else from Italy) but they also have coffee from other roasters. All together the coffee itself is a reason to visit but Taglio is so much more as they also serve excellent food. The pasta I had was a nice example of well-made uncomplicated food. They are also a deli so sell a lot of charcuteries and cheeses as well as other food items (tea, coffee, beverages, granola etc) The service was nice, friendly, mostly English speaking and fairly fast and they also have free wifi (however with mandatory facebook login) so a place I will visit again. Only minor drawback would be the price level - dinner easily came to €50 per head and while not super-expensive it is still a bit on the high side for more of a neighborhood place.

    Taglio was a highlight of our dining experience while in Milano. The service was exceptionally…read morefriendly and pleasant. The interior was charming and spacious. The option to order brunch after noon was a wonderful surprise and most welcome to California tourists such as ourselves. We ordered the tagliere (salumi platter) and eggs Benedict. Delicious. We dined in the back room overlooking the industrious kitchen. Both male and female chefs! I highly recommend this charming, spacious restaurant/deli in the Navigli district.

    Photos
    Taglio
    Taglio - Small snack

    Small snack

    Taglio

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    PAM - Pre-made meals

    PAM

    4.2(6 reviews)
    1.6 kmWashington
    €€

    The supermarket was very clean and organized. Prices were average. I wouldn't say it's to tourist…read morefriendly. None of the staff was very welcoming or willingly looking to provide customer service. They do have a good selection of local products available. One weird thing for me being American was. They kept their eggs on shelves instead of the cooler section. I will say one thing that made this place a "Do not return" spot for me was the there was several rotten fruits and vegetables left mixed in with the others. You can tell they had been there for days and no one checks. They charge for bags here so keep that in mind and plan accordingly. I will say I like the hrs of operation.

    Date of visit: May 27, 2025…read more I wanted to bring back some pasta for my employees and rather than hitting up a tourist spot featuring overpriced pasta shaped like gondolas, I found a grocery store where locals were more likely to buy their pasta. There was a decent selection of pasta at a very good price, with several brands outside of the store brand available for purchase. The store was clean and in good condition; really the only things that I didn't like was the unfriendliness of the person staffing the self-checkouts (no greeting or acknowledgement at all) and that despite the checkout having an English option, the receipt still printed in Italian. Seems like an easy fix!

    Photos
    PAM - Wines

    Wines

    PAM - Grocery aisles

    Grocery aisles

    PAM - Pre-made meals

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    Pre-made meals

    I Pesciolini - Oysters from the Po River delta - sooo amazing -  a must!

    I Pesciolini

    4.5(18 reviews)
    1.8 kmCentro Storico
    €€€

    Charming neighborhood seafood shop and restaurant in Porta Romana. They specialize in raw and…read morecooked seafood. We had the most delicious oysters from the Po river delta, raw and cooked red shrimp from Sicily, swordfish tartare with pistachios, and amberjack tartare with bottarga dishes. Staff was very helpful in telling us about the different seafood, its origins and what is local to Italy. They also offer truffle dishes when in season. A true gem!

    I might just be the odd one out... I don't get the hype about this place... it was highly…read morerecommended by a friend, The Fork and even our concierge... so we made a ressie and came for lunch. It was very quiet for lunch... guessing ppl come for dinner. But their AM service for takeaway is very popular. It reminds me of those deli that had pre-made specials. Cozy space, a few tables... surrounded by bottles and bottles of wine. They don't open until 12:30 for lunch... The Fork gave us a 12pm seating... so we just hung out at the Mercado next door and then chilled outside. We ordered the highly recommended "red shrimp", this is nasty... I don't like the consistency at all... it doesn't taste fresh... it's mushy.. and it almost didn't make it into my belly... (gag..); we got the Irish oysters... it says "sweet"... if by sweet means loaded with sea water then ok. Salty AF. I enjoyed the anchovies over butter toasts.. that was delicious. We split a pasta with red shrimp (ordered it bc my friends wanted to try), I wanted the lobster. I didn't enjoy this pasta at all. We split the amberjack... which was oven baked with very heavy wine sauce... and mushy mushrooms and potatoes. I liked the fish... it was nice, flakey and flavorful. So, the only reason why this is not a 2 stars experience is bc of the anchovies toasts and the fish. For a €160... we deserved better food. I wouldn't go out of my way for this spot. Ciao!

    Photos
    I Pesciolini - Nice window view

    Nice window view

    I Pesciolini - Red shrimp and Irish oysters

    Red shrimp and Irish oysters

    I Pesciolini - View to outside of some building

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    View to outside of some building

    Il Cestino - italian - Updated May 2026

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