Refettorio

Wonderful meal. The saffron risotto was out of this world.

Went here last night with a few friends for a catch up. Had a quick look at the website before going and knew we were going to have Italian.
Situated just inside the Crown Plaza a stones throw from Blackfriars. We were here on a Toptable offer which was 2 courses with a glass of bubbly for £25 or 3 for £35. The menu is so difficult to choose from as I wanted to eat everything. In the end as I couldn’t choose between a pasta and a meaty main, I opted for a small pasta starter and the rack of lamb. The pasta was delicious, thick creamy tomato sauce with nuggets of prawn and cherry toms YUM. I could have easily had a main portion of this as well as the lamb. The lamb was tender and perfectly cooked to medium rare and was accompanied by an amazing aubergine purée. The rest of the group were also very pleased with their choices. To finish we all shared a small cheese platter served with honey and bread.
The restaurant was very quite but we all liked that having just had drinks in a heaving bar in the city, we could have a nice chilled evening over good food and drink. The service was impeccable and the surrounding are very stylish. I imagine this restaurant gets very busy for client/​work lunches.
We all had such a lovely evening we all said we would definitely be back here very soon!

My first Giorgio Locatelli dining experience occurred here recently. It was a fantastic way to become introduced to his food as well (and I actually got to meet him too!).
I was at Refettorio, one of Locatelli’s two London restaurants, to celebrate Italian Cured Meats in Europe by the Italian Trade Commission and the Istituto Valorizzazione Salumi Italiani. Giorgio was on hand for the event as was the London-​based Italian super-​chef Francesco Mazzei both taking turns slicing culatello and mortadella for the appreciative attendees. More about that event here:

Located within the Crowne Plaza hotel near Black Friars Station, Refettorio is an impressive space. The canapés coming out of the kitchen were inspired and irresistible. I’d be very keen to return for a proper sit down and peruse of the menu.

Refettorio is another one of London’s high end Italian restaurants and I was lucky to taken here by a client for a long lunch on a Friday afternoon in December.
Refettorio is situated around the corner from Blackfriars station on the ground floor of the Crown Plaza and being a hotel restaurant does put off the snootier critics.
I found the service was exemplary and although the client had arranged a custom menu for us, the food was of excellent quality, even the notoriously demanding customer in our party was satisfied. The only thing preventing a 5 star review was the relatively quiet atmosphere.