Murano

We had an excellent second visit to Murano - the pasta and risotto dishes are really standout, it's almost a shame they are in the starter section as we all agreed they would more than hold their own as mains!

My husband's long list of intolerances was handled with care - the kitchen even managed to create a dairy free dessert especially for him, something that none of the other restaurants in this price bracket that we have visited have been able to muster so far.

My parents had only previously sampled Hartnett's cooking at The Connaught (which left them both disappointed) and were most impressed at the change in style which they pronounced a vast improvement.

A third visit is definitely in the offing!
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JCA
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 29, 2010

Excellent night spent last week on having a late dinner set menu.

I am pleasantly surprised by the level of excellence in food.
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Fawaz
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 24, 2009

I visited this restaurant for a midweek evening meal with my partner.

The entrance to the restaurant is fairly discreet with a doorman who grace the way in! but is a little bit tight inside the door where our coats were taken. The service was impeccable attentive without being overbearing or obsequious.

We both had the 3 course A la Carte menu (£60) which we thought had slightly more interesting choices than the 8 course tasting menu.

I started with the pheasant agnolotti which was superb, my partner had the scallops which were also good.

For main I had the slow cooked pork which while very good was for me over salted. I don't like my food heavily salted but even taking this into account I think most would have agreed. It was't inedible but I found myself drinking more and more throughout the dish to 'wash it down'! My partner had the turbot which was perfectly cooked but she felt the sauce/gravy overwhelemed the subtler flavours slightly.

Desserts of ginger cake with early grey tea and plum cremeux were both excellent.

There were a number of amuse bouche type courses which were all delightful.

So overall a good experience tainted slightly by the over seasoning of the mains!
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Jake
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Monday, November 30, 2009

Our first visit this week for lunch, and one of those pleasant occasions where you enter a restaurant with high expectations and leave it feeling that they have been surpassed. Whats more, considering what we paid for a well thought out and beautifully cooked set lunch, and what else came with it, it was great value too.

Sensibly there is a strong seasonal component to the menu we chose, with our chosen starters being an interesting pasta and italian sausage dish and a wonderful pumpkin soup. Mains were an extremely tasty ravioli of beef cheek and a tender roast guinea fowl that I might say was a tiny bit bland. Desserts were a baked apple in a sea-salted sauce with ice cream , and a delicious array of cheeses which looked Frech but turned out mostly to be English. Truffled risotto balls, some fine breads and salumi, a tasting plate of ice creams, and good petits fours with coffee came along whenever there seemed an opportunity, so leaving hungry isn't an option.

Whilst I love Italian food, and probably eat it more often than any other cuisine, I've always had a view that it isn't really fine dining- and theis after visiting some of the more prestigious establishments. Murano firmly challenges that view, and we'll be back. Indeed I have already reserved again.
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David Henderson - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, November 01, 2009

We went here for our anniversary on Monday night. It was a brilliant evening. We also came in in July for my birthday, that time too was great. I can't decide which is the highlight-the food, or the service...what the heck they are both 10s. We were made to feel welcome, and so looked after. The food is beautiful. I had sweetbreads as a starter-omg they were perfect. We had a mid course of the white truffle risotto at 65! quid for one portion split. It was very good, but £65??? Mains were john dory, good but not the same caliber as the sweatbreads, and duck. My partner loved the duck. The room decor is soothing, understated.

My only complaint-I hate paying the service automatically on the WHOLE bill ie the wine etc. Can someone from the industry justify to me why I should pay 12% on an expensive bottle of wine? I open plenty of expensive wine at home-I do it just the same to a bottle of Tesco finest that I do to a nice California cab..something to think about.
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k kalaway
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

We went to Murano for lunch last Saturday and we had a really nice time. We had a table for two looking into the kitchen which I found very interesting to watch. The pace the chefs were working too was amazing.

My husband went for the set lunch menu with Duck leg lasagna followed by braised beef cheeks and lime cheesecake. I went for the a la carte menu starting with scallops then seabass and then lemon tart AND chocolate souffle which was absolutely WONDERFUL and I could have eaten another one! I went into the kitchen to say thank you to the pastry chef afterwards.

On a par with the food was the level of service we received from Hose, restaurant manager, he is really a class act and looked after us like we were treasured friends.

I love Murano.
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Patricia Gay - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

We had dinner here last Monday. It all worked out well! Nice atmosphere, it is beautiful to see how the guests and the colours of the clothes they wear are elements in the atmosphere of the restaurant. The lighting is beautifully designed for that reason. The service is top level. It is a first class working machine and all the hosts reached a top notch level! The wines and the winelist of course are suited for the food served and the balance on the list is good. The wine advise of the sommelier was oke but could have been better. Than the most important part: the food. All courses served in our 9 course meal were of top level. The balance of the ingredients on your plate was inspiring! Pure, fresh, top quality, perfect cuisson are the words for all courses. Superb. Worth every penny spent.
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Arjen
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

We had been looking forward to going to this (relatively) new Angela Hartnett restaurant for quite some time, and on the whole we were not disappointed. The dining room is much nicer than the one at the Connaught - no plaid carpets here, but instead a subdued and sleek creamy white motif. The greeting was warm and the service was, initially at least, excellent. The menu was just the right length - not so little that choice is limited, not so much that you wonder whether everything can be fresh - and filled with tempting, modern Italian dishes. The food itself did not disappoint, either. Everything we had was delicious. Risotto, pasta, halibut, lobster: these were all delightful and perfectly presented.

The only problem was the service during the second half of the meal. Admittedly, we were drinking our bottle of wine rather slowly, but they did not fill the glasses often enough, and the bottle itself was kept far away at a serving station. Then, the last time our glasses were filled, we both noticed that there was still an inch or so left in the bottle. But they did not come back with it and, after a long wait, when we asked after it we were told the bottle was finished. Not by us! We then asked for a glass of dessert wine and had to wait 10 minutes for the menus to come. Then when we each ordered a glass of dessert wine, we waited and waited but it never arrived. For twenty minutes or so, we were simply ignored by the staff, which was odd because the restaurant was actually less busy at this point in the evening. We finally asked for the bill, and never received our dessert wine or any explanation of why we had suddenly become lepers. It was a bad end to an evening that had started very well and one that nevertheless included some excellent food.
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Harry
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Saturday, July 25, 2009

My wife and I had the set menu lunch on Wednesday. It was the first day of the changed set menu and it was brilliant. We had two amuse bouche, the first as best as I could work out was deep fried risotto balls made with anchovy and truffle oil(?). The next pre-strater blew us away as it was a rustic platter of salami and I guess Iberico ham served with some outstanding breads. By the time we had eaten that I was concerned about being able to finish the meal. The starters were excellent especially my mackerel "tart" that was exquisite, my mains of calves liver was perfectly seasoned and served with a delicious jus - a little more on the medium than on the medium rare but as I said, the flvour was awesome. We were then served a pre-dessert which consisted of 9 different sorbets served on an cooled tiered cake stand. Desserts were great too although how my wife managed to finish her Pimms trifle is beyond me. I saw the cheese board and it looked impressive. The coffee was excellent and we couldn't physically finish all the petit fours. All this (bar the coffee) for £25! The best meal I've had since Le Gavroche and a gulf in class compared to Wild Honey (don't go there) and Bath Priory where the service (in both cases) was shambolic. Can't wait to come here again. Final note - predominantly suits which is maybe why the service we had was amongst the most attentive I've ever had as it was clear we were there for the experience. Better here than when we ate at Angela Hartnett at the Connaught a few years back. Lovely dining room too.
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Gareth - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, June 07, 2009

I loved Murano - I had a so-so meal at the York and Albany, so I was hoping that Hartnett's higher end restaurant wouldn't disappoint. It didn't, over a huge blow-out of a special occasion meal with my husband - 6 course taster menu, supplementary cheese course, two bottles of decent wine between and dessert wine too. It cost a small fortune (we probably could have spent a whole weekend away for the same price), but as soon as we can afford it we will go back. The meal was flawless, in a simple, unshowy way - beautifully sourced, cooked and presented, but without the excess baggage that so many Michelin starred chefs feel obliged to crowd on the plate. Courses were focussed and self-assured - two silky ravioli, a small plate of perfectly dressed salad, a piece of halibut to die for with a red wine jus... I could go on indefinitely, but will restrain myself to mentioning an irresistible pistachio souffle which still had to be devoured in full after all those courses and various amuses bouches.

As for the atmosphere, it was a refreshing change to be in a quiet place for once - all those huge noisy eateries have their place, but it can be hard to talk. And the staff were friendly and enthusiastic, keen to tell us how delicious the course was about to be, but never intrusive. We left feeling that had really spoilt ourselves, and that it had been worth it .
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Michelle
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 01, 2009