Over the years, I have had the opportunity to travel around the world quite a bit, and experienced some incredible culinary delights. (Especially during my stays in Italy) So during my recent trip to London, when I learned my coworker was planning a business dinner at a local Italian restaurant with one of our important clients, I was skeptical to say the least. - Mainly for two reasons:
1) It's London, come on, they make good ales and fish & chips, but I've definitely had my share of non al dente pastas in this lovely city. It's like an overpriced SpaghettiOs. (not that I'm saying SpaghettiOs are bad)
2) I knew of a few good authentic Japanese restaurants in town so I figured let's take the safe route.
But boy was I wrong. We had a party of 10, so naturally, you would expect some delays in ordering the food, getting the glass filled with flat/gas water, you know, the usual stuff. But service was excellent with 3 to 4 servers circling around our table so hardly had to do any waiting. The atmosphere has that colonial style look to it so you definitely want to dress a bit more formal than you would if you were going to a um...McDonald?
After ordering a few Antipastos for everyone to share, which were all pretty tasty, and knocking down a few bottles of wine, it was time to select our Secondo (aside from the risotto, pasta). They brought out the fresh catches of the day on a silver platter, live lobsters, Scottish langoustines (big shrimps), etc. I decided to go with the Scottish langoustines and it was the best choice! The taste was like a hybrid of a sweet succulent buttery shrimp, and a hearty Maine lobster meat, grilled to perfection on top an open fire so it had a hint of that smokiness to it.
If you ever do visit or plan on visiting London, and craving some good Italian food, look no further, and give this place a try. read more