Locanda Locatelli, London

Locanda Locatelli is a one Michelin-starred restaurant located near Marble Arch. It is very close to Bond Street/ Oxford Street and it must be very popular with tourists!

We were greeted by very friendly staff when we entered. Our waiter is from Rome and he has a very strong Italian accent. This is an Italian restaurant so this is a good sign :)

SP has just returned from Hong Kong so it was great to have spend some time together. We ordered our aperatives (passion fruit cocktail for me and patis for SP) and we took our time to catch up. Then we remembered that we need to leave by 9:15pm (they told us at booking), so we ordered our food.

There is no degustation menu at Locatelli. I haven't had much luck with the degustation menus recently so it doesn't bother me.

SP and I both ordered the carpaccio of beef. Why have the meat cooked when they are of good quality??? The presentation was really nice. The beef is very tender and tasty. The dressing is very simple, but you really don't need much additional flavour when the beef is this good!

We then split a portion of the gnocchi with cepes. I wanted to ordered the dish but I don't think i could have eaten a whole plate of gnocchi by myself. My experience tells me that gnocchi can be starchy and it tastes a bit bland after the first few tasty bites. Not with this dish!! The gnocchi is not starchy at all. It is slightly chewy and I love the texture! The cepes and sauce are very delicious and this is no ordinary gnocchi dish. We both finished the dish with satisfaction. I would order it again!

SP ordered Grilled Plaice (fish) with some vegetables. It is above average. The fish was not that crispy but it was not too fishy at all. So Steven was glad. We ordered some spinach as sides. This is a vegetable that I love more and more of! I just love tender leaves!

My dish of lobster capelli. The smell was incredible! There are tomatoes in this dish, but the tomato taste was not very powerful so it is acceptable. The lobster pieces are a bit small, and I certainly don't think there is a whole lobster in this dish. The sauce is nice and the pasta is very fresh. I think it was slightly overcooked though.

Dessert was chocolate tart with berries. I was already quite full so we shared a portion. There were cooked fruits in the dessert so it was a great turn off for me. I guess they are not to be blamed though. hehe

The wine matching has been very good throughout. We were pleased with all the recommendations and it has made the meal very enjoyable.

In the end, we had a bit of time left on the clock so we took the petit fours slowly. The petit fours was not that great though. The dark chocolate has a grainy, sour aftertaste.

The dining experience has been very pleasant. The restaurant is very dark and I would prefer it to be a couple of notches brighter. I guess they are trying to make it 'romantic'. The service was very good and we were much more satisfied than when we were at Gidleigh Park.

For a one-Michelin starred restaurant, I think this is pretty good.