Murano

"The main difficulty here is answering the question 'how may courses?'. Opting for a modest four was wise and more than sufficient. Exceedingly good cooking that may well be my favourite Italian in London - I can certainly go repeatedly without getting bored. Highlight was the best monkfish dish I've eaten in a long time!"

"The food was lovely. It would have been even better had it been served on hot plates."

"My first time here, visiting for lunch. Quite a formal dining room but with very friendly staff, particularly the sommelier. There was a short selection of classic cocktails, well made. I didn’t look at the wine list in detail. Nibbles included some wonderful focaccia with excellent Angela Hartnett-brand olive oil. Some of the best olive oil I have had in an English restaurant in recent years. The food was quite simple and straight-forward. The vegetarian options were mostly fresh vegetables, well prepared, often served with a dairy product (e.g. “spring” vegetables with ricotta or pasta stuffed with tomatoes served with shredded burrata). The puddings, again, we simple traditional ones such as tiramisu, attractively made and presented. If you can stick to the set lunch menu, it is really good value for money."

"As an Italian food lover this restaurant will always be a highlight of my dining calendar and after saturday’s visit there is no reason whatsoever to change that. The food is absolutely fabulous and matched by the best service and great wine. I can honestly say that I am already looking to when I can go back. Now onto the day itself which started with a delightful welcome from manager Laura and the team. She then escorted us to our table along the far wall that gives you a great view of the whole restaurant. While having a nice catch up we were poured a complimentary glass of bubbles to start us off. We were then given the menus consisting of a Lunch Menu or the A la Carte where you had the choice to choose either 3 , 4 , 5 or 6 courses creating your own Tasting Menu. It was at this point that Laura gave us a surprise and amazing gesture from head chef Em who had said that she would be very happy to create a personal Tasting Menu for us both. Well how could we refuse so therefore gladly accepted. Next it was to to meet sommelier Ali but on this occasion we made her life easy as we wanted to try the Angela Hartnett 2019 Toscana Bianco which I have to say was a fabulous pairing for a majority of the menu and also excellent value for money. This was followed by the usual fabulous selection of snacks consisting of croquettes , olives , breadsticks , charcuterie , rosemary focaccia & a sweetcorn panna cotta topped with popcorn & red amaranth. Now we moved onto the menu itself which started with two amazing dishes. They were a Raw Orkney Sea Scallop with elderflower , gooseberry & radish. As well as the Vitello Tonnato with fennel & pickled capers. These were two absolute delights leaving us with great expectations for what was to follow. These were indeed followed by two excellent pasta dishes. The first was a Herb Raviolo with tenderstem broccoli , swiss chard & parmesan. The other was a Pomodoro Agnolotti with stracciatella & basil. Our next courses were simply heaven. There was a big smile on my wife’s face as she was presented with the Hand Rolled Linguine with mussels , saffron & chilli. For myself there was equal delight as I enjoyed a fantastic rich and creamy Carnaroli Risotto with girolles & summer truffle. Now our palate needed to be lightened which brought us to the fish course. They were a Halibut , hispi cabbage , smoked eel & seaweed buerre blanc along with a Roasted Monkfish with romesco , courgette & piquillo peppers. These were two more fabulous dishes as we continued to enjoy a fantastic afternoon. This led us to the main course and to a dish that I would absolutely love. It was a Heritage Tomato with burrata , tomato & a basil dashi that was not as light as the appearance would have you think as a mixture creaminess with refreshing tomato & basil made this dish one that I would highly recommend. My wife was given the supplemented Herdwick Lamb with goat’s curd , jersey royals & basil pesto that was by the look on her face was amazing. These dishes were paired beautifully with two delightful wines recommended by sommelier Ali. She chose a Candialle 2013 Chianti Classico and a fabulous 2019 Faustine rose. Now it was time to finish with desserts and just like the rest of the menu these were absolutely delicious. My wife was presented with a Strawberry & Elderflower Mille Feuille and for myself a heavenly Raspberry & Chocolate Souffle that was just sublime and paired perfectly with a Recioto Della Valpolicella dessert wine. We finished with coffee and petit fours to bring to an end a fantastic afternoon of Italian food which was matched by excellent service led by Laura & Alessandro and fabulous wine pairings from sommelier Ali. We then received a nice surprise as chef Em came over to our table for a chat. This gave us the chance to personally thank her and the team for the absolutely stunning dishes she had created. If you are a fan of Italian food & wine then I can’t recommend a visit to Murano highly enough and I’m definitely looking forward to returning again soon. Thank You Em , Laura , Alessandro & Ali for a truly fabulous lunch and look forward to seeing you all again soon"