Cafe Murano is an excellent, efficient restaurant, cooking interesting, tasty dishes in combination with a carefully curated wine list in a friendly - even romantic - atmosphere.
Just off Piccadilly, Cafe Murano does have a great reputation for a reason. The restaurant is beautiful, designed with attention to detail. This creates an atmospheric and relaxed environment. It is definitely a place I could recommend for a random dinner as well as for a date.
When I arrived, I was welcomed and given a nice table by the window. As walk-in I did not have a reservation, so I could only stay for about an hour. Knowing this, it was easy to get through my delicious dinner before the next booking.
The all-Italian line-up of wines by the glass is a nice selection of different regions and grapes. One white wine stood out for me - the Etna Bianco, Tenuta delle Terre Nere, Sicilia from 2014. Last year, I had a very interesting Azores white wine grown on volcanic soil at The Corkscrew Wine Bar in Lisbon. As I really enjoyed that one, I thought it would be exciting to find out how an Italian wine from Etna would taste. Volcanic wine is nothing I have seen on many wine lists, so I just had to seize this opportunity. If like me, you like mineral notes in a wine, the Etna Bianco is something you will enjoy. It is a pretty dry wine, yet the volcanic soil adds a certain depth to it missing in most other white wines. I can imagine that some people would not enjoy the characteristic flavour, but I think it's a great wine.
Soon, the complementary bread arrived, complete with a little sea of olive oil on a separate small plate. The bread was not sweet, nice on its own and even better with a bit of olive oil and pepper.
I had ordered the truffle arancini starter which was very nice together with the opionated Etna wine. The truffle added a salty sensation to the dish. Strong, but luckily not overpowering the beautiful risotto inside.
I was looking for a relatively small and light main, and the pumpkin gnocchi, sage butter, walnuts and gorgonzola was exactly what I wanted. I would almost call this dish a revelation. When I read the menu, I was not sure about the pumpkin gnocchi. However, it turned out that I actually now perhaps prefer it over potato gnocchi! The taste of the gnocchi was kind of neutral and smooth, and I think quite a bit lighter than potato would have been. The walnuts added a lovely texture to the plate and the salty gorgonzola perfectly enhanced the seasoning of the dish. Finally, the sage sauce made it a well-rounded and thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Choosing a small main left enough space for a dessert. I went for the chocolate tart with milk sorbet. The chocolate was dark and bitter as it should be with an impressively shiny glaze. The pastry was crispy but still easy to cut through. And the surprisingly light milk sorbet nicely balanced the rich chocolate flavour and helped cleanse the palate. And as if this would not be good enough already, the dessert also went brilliantly with the Etna wine.
After three courses, I left Cafe Murano very happy and satisfied that evening. Would I go again? Sure, any time - Cafe Murano really is an excellent restaurant.