Locanda Locatelli - London, England: At the moment, Locanda Locatelli is supposedly one of the hottest restaurants in London. No wonder, since this upscale Italian restaurant boasts big-named celebrities for patrons (no less than Elton John, Madonna, and Gwyneth Paltrow). The décor is casual yet elegant—circular banquet seating upholstered in creamy beige leather, circular mirrors, wooden walls tinged with red hues, and clean contemporary lines. The cutlery and glassware are relatively ordinary, but the wine glasses are top-of-the-line.

Our dinner started with complimentary homemade breads with olive oil for dipping. The menu consisted of five fish and five meat dishes—not an extensive selection but it should be enough for anyone to find something that whets their appetite. The wine list, on the other hand, was quite exceptional consisting mainly of Italian selections.

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For my appetizer I had the Tortelli di Fagiano al Rosmarino—homemade pheasant parcels with rosemary jus, which I did not enjoy so much as it was dry and the sauce was not enough to make up for it. My partner had the Linguine all’Astice—linguine pasta with lobster, tomato, garlic and chili. It was a mediocre dish that was a long way from being great.

For the main course, I had the Roast Rabbit Leg, Polenta and Parma ham. The meat was juicy and tender and the polenta side dish with brown sauce was extremely good. My partner had the Salted Sea Bass, a fillet of wild sea bass baked in salt and herbs, served with a green salad, which he found to be equally satisfying. To end the evening, we had their dessert special of the day—Blueberry tart with ice cream, and found it to be boring.

Service was average at best. Unfortunately, we were seated next to the waiter stand and were disrupted all the time; the waiters high-fived and fist-bumped so many times during the evening that I lost count. I am not sure why they felt the need to catch up on the day’s gossip in between work, but it surely took the professionalism and elegance out of the night. We also found our waiter to be on the rude side, but Marco the Sommelier was very good and helped us select the perfect Pinot for dinner and sweet wine for dessert.

For the quality of the food, the prices at Locanda Locatelli are expensive. The pasta starters averaged around 15 Pounds ($26.00) while the main dishes averaged about 29 Pounds ($48.00). The quality of the pasta dishes does not justify their prices and the lackadaisical service made what should have been a great main course turn into a cheap and intrusive adventure. Overall rating, Between Bombastic and Not.

What I liked: Roast Rabbit Leg with Polenta

What I didn’t like: Pheasant Ravioli

Rating: Between Bombastic and Not

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