Review of Locanda Locatelli
Posted on October 21, 2007, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon.
Good Italian food ruined by some of the worst service I’ve had in a restaurant in years. These people need to learn some manners and learn how to smile.
This was our final dinner in London and I had very high hopes. I’ve been a fan of Giorgio Locatelli since the wonderful Tony & Giorgio TV series in 2002. He came across as a great cook with a sparkling sense of humour. It’s just at the back of Marble Arch tube station and is in an “Italian restaurant looking” building. The door staff were friendly enough and the counter was piled high with his new book. We were shown to a table with only one couple near us. Unfortunately they were the stereotypical loud Yanks who must have spent 20 minutes discussing wine with the sommelier so we could all tell how much they knew. Our waitress come over and greeted us with a with a characterless “buona sera, good evening”, handed over menus and told us the specials in a style more suited to someone reading death notices. She also mentioned a special cocktail of the evening involving strawberries which we both went for and enjoyed. One expects a bit of friendliness and chat in an Italian restaurant not robots repeating learned lines and clearly not giving a crap what you think of anything. But that is what we got for the entire meal. It was like the place had been taken over by the Red Army Faction. Had Giorgio just cut their wages? The grumpiness and curtness got to the level of being funny. “You finished with the breadsticks?” “You finished with the bread?”. The wine list was extensive and completely beyond me but I had taken a dislike to the sommelier too having listened to him at other tables. So I picked one of the few things I recognised, a pinot grigio, and went with that. Actually I think a normal waiter asked for our selection, we must not have deserved a sommelier. The wine started slightly harsh but got much better over the meal. They then proceeded to fill our glasses every five minutes with approximately 3 millilitres of wine. The glasses spent 90% of the time empty. I finally gave up towards the end and said “you may as well keep going” which caused a pained smile to appear on his face. The food? Good but not incredible by any means. Catherine had some salad to start but a week later she has forgotten the details. I had a very tasty dressed cress salad with sweet onions and some fantastic salami which they described it as cured neck of pork on the menu. We both decided to skip the meat course as nothing grabbed us at all and we went with pasta as mains. We also both picked specials – this is something I do more and more now. I work on the assumption that it is their freshest stuff and they will try to impress with it. Mine was a ravioli of oxtail in a tomato based sauce. It was excellent. Deep flavours and lovely textures but about half the size it should be for a main. Catherine had a red mullet based pasta dish with tomato sauce. We both assumed the fish would sit on the pasta but it had been broken down into tiny pieces and mixed in . Whilst it was tasty enough, it could really have been any fish and disn’t impress as much as mine. I went with the special desert which was a fig based tartlet. Good but not particularly memorable. Catherine had the usual chocolatey thing which was ok but again didn’t stick in the mind. Two quick coffees and we were done. Barely 1.5 hours. The bill arrived and we were out the door without one person asking us if we had enjoyed the meal. I had heard that this was one of the top three Italians in London, if not the best. I had also read somewhere that they were after a Michelin star. Based on our experience they haven’t a hope, I’ve had friendlier and more genuine service in a McDonalds.
Rated /5 on Oct 21 2007 by Conor O’Neill
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12 Replies to "Review of Locanda Locatelli"
John on October 21, 2007
You might be right about the specials being fresher in some places, but I had always heard that it was the opposite – i.e. they tart up what they were trying to get rid of.
JD on October 22, 2007
I think from a purely business point-of-view that a lot of these restaurants are obviously ‘recommended’ by association of a particular chef. I have a problem with this in many ways. True, Mr Locatelli may be a gifted chef on the tv as is Mr Ramsey, as are many others but when it comes to the day-to-day running of an establishment there needs to be a presence of that greatness. I might be way off the mark but it’s an expensive night out if a chap who was trained by the master chef cooks your food and you get charged for the ‘association’ to greatness. Dunno. Maybe it can be a positive too. But hack, I have again recently been to Sorrento in Bandon again and I have to say, it’s a fantastic place. From beginning to end. Not very sophisticated but good. No alluding to grandeur there. Genuine Italians too!
conor on October 22, 2007
I’m with Bourdain who thinks that a great restaurant is great whether the head chef is there or not. Their presence is a bonus rather than a requirement.
So what disappointed us even more was that we had heard he still works the hotplate most nights. That means this kind of service is happening under his nose!
JD on October 22, 2007
It would have been excellent if he was there. I also think he’s one of the best, particularly at explaining his process during cooking. Ramsey is known for his bluster – I don’t think I’ve ever seen him on tv cooking food! But I am a cynic and don’t like shouters!
Nick on October 31, 2007
Just back from a long weekend in Northern Italy . Great food , friendly service , good wines and very affordable . Dinner for the 2 of us including a bottle of wine and change from €50 . Public transport was great value , it was punctual and regular . A great break and.. oh , we left the kids back here with the family . Now that was what I called a holiday !
conor on October 31, 2007
Sounds perfect! Some day we are doing that. Some day.
JD on October 31, 2007
Sounds great.
FYI, has anyone tried “Dunnes Stores Simply Better Vintage farmhouse white cheddar cheese” ? Not a fan of Dunnes range of fodder myself but this cheese worked its way into our fridge last week. Strength value 5. I’m pleasantly surprised at how good it is… Had some on a homemade burger myself tonight. What a taste.
conor on October 31, 2007
Haven’t tried it. My biggest problem with a lot of the vintage cheddars is the “grit” scattered through it. I know it’s a feature not a bug (as we say in software) but I just don’t like it.
I hope you watched Heston’s hamburger episode. I was surprised by how “normal” it was!
JD on October 31, 2007
Missed it unfortunately. I think I may be getting some DVDs of his tv material in the (large) Christmas stocking so will wait till then.
I enjoyed Gary Rhode’s in India though. Now on re-run on one of the 182 food channels.
Got a new receipe for a Thai Green curry (sort of) and have tried it twice with great success. The secret is a good tin of coconut milk. The ‘An Tobairin’ health food shop in Bandon carries an organic type and the texture is velvet. Nice chunks of chicken fillet cooked off in a hot pan, take them out. Pop in a small drop of olive oil with some garlic, onion, peppers, courgette (all finely chopped. Bang back in the chicken, turn heat down and add the coconut milk. Simmer slowly for 20mins. Boil some water, pop in some basmati rice for 5-7 mins only. Take out rice and place in steamer over hot liquid and keep on heat until fluffy. Finely chop some root ginger and ’sprinkle’ and mix with a fork into rice whilst in the steamer.
Large plate, Nice mound of fragrant rice and a good dollop of chicken.
The job!
conor on November 1, 2007
Now that’s a fine recipe.
I notice that jdsrecipes.wordpress.com is still available! You should think about it!
locanda locatelli!!! « italian foodies on November 17, 2008
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Catherine on October 21, 2007
I think the fish in my main course may have been snapper but to be honest, it could well have been anything the bits were so small. I have been racking my brain trying to remember my starter and dessert, to no avail. They were obviously both forgettable. In contrast I still recall most of the tastes and sights of the Petrus meal the night before which says something really.