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    Il Cestino

    3.3 (48 reviews)
    PriceyItalian, Seafood
    Closed 10:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

    Il Cestino Photos

    IL CESTINO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Touristy
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - Il Cestino

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    Reviews With Photos

    Vanessa K.

    We had such a wonderful dining experience here! The service was exceptional--Mauritzio made us feel so welcome from the moment we arrived. And the paella? Absolutely the bomb. Perfectly cooked, rich in flavor, and truly unforgettable. Highly recommend!

    Ashik
    Patrick K.

    Food was great. We had just landed from the US and walked around the area. The restaurant and staff were welcoming. Needed a drink and light bite to get us back to life. The outdoor eating experience was lovely. Ashik was our server and very helpful. Even hooked us up with a welcome limoncello. Or 2. Highly recommend. Especially if you're lucky enough to get Ashik. Salute!

    Items from raw bar
    Suzanne A.

    This is on a sweet little side street with some other restaurants. We had excellent raw seafood here on our first day in Italy. We ordered clams, razor clams and sea urchin. Everything was VERY fresh. The clam was still moving when it arrived at the table!! Very nice Aperol spritz as well. I would not go here seeking pizza or pasta, but the seafood, the specialty of the house was excellent.

    Oso buco
    Mallory D.

    Service was decent, although the waiter told us the meat and cheese platter was 15 euro total, not 15 euro per person. So that was a surprise, with a party of 5. Wine was decent and they had the heaters on outside. I would rate the osso buco with saffron risotto 4 stars but my husband ordered the seafood paella which had broken mussel shells (small) throughout the dish. He cut the inside of his mouth which rendered the dish almost inedible. So that is why I rated a 3 overall.

    Tiffany W.

    This place was recommended by a local so my friend and I came here for dinner on our first stop in Milan for some pizza and pasta. The seafood pasta was cooked in a iron pan with a pizza dough foil. The pizza crust had a great seafood pasta seasoning and was great to munch on with the pasta. The pizza was light and well made.

    Royal Plateau
    Alfie B.

    I was really craving another raw seafood platter while in Milan and decided on Il Cestino after reading some decent reviews of this place. From this outside this looks like a tourist trap, and the prices are relatively higher than other Milanese restaurants I've been to. However the food here was delicious! I ordered the Royal Plateau, and added on a scallop and sea urchin. Every single item on here was extremely fresh and flavorful. My favorites were the red prawns and oysters. The prawns remind me of Argentinian red shrimp: a little sweet and very tender. The oysters were as good as if not better than any of the fancier oyster bars I've been to before. I'm honestly not sure why other reviewers had issues with this restaurant. The food was great. All of the wait staff were friendly and spoke proficient English. Restaurant was in a prime location, excellent for people watching if that's your thing. I would most certainly eat here again, simply for the oysters.

    Linguine pasta with mixed sea food covered in a pizza crust
    J M.

    The food at this restaurant was good. We had the linguine pasta with mixed sea food covered in a pizza crust. This was the better dish with a decent amount of seafood. The other dish was the spaghetti with clams. The amount of clams was low and the sauce was on the bland side. I will echo the comments of another reviewer. The cover charge of 7 euro and the water charge of 3.50 euro (clearly it was tap water in a recycled unsealed water bottle), were too high if justified at all. The entree prices were on the high side, especially the spaghetti with clams. Service was good, but this definitely seemed to be too touristy for my taste.

    Phoebe A.

    My friend and I stopped by this spot as our first dinner in Milan, and of course we got pizza and pasta. Everything was absolutely delicious. The seafood pasta was particularly interesting; it was cooked in a pizza dough wrapping, which was unexpected. All in all, a solid first meal in Milan!

    Fish selection
    Catherine H.

    Stopped here for lunch on a quick visit to Milan. The risotto appetizer was delicious, and the cheesecake dessert might be the best I've ever had. My husband had the sea bass ravioli and loved it.

    Dirty rim as 'bottled water'
    Jamie L.

    Terrible food, terrible service. We ordered meals from the lunch special. Pizza was a wet and soggy mess! In Italy! The bottled water was just tap water in a bottle which we paid €3.50 for. It was also warm and had a dirty rim. Service charge was €7 for crap service. What a waste of a meal in Italy. Not real chefs not real Italian.

    My first time trying the ossobucco and it was delicious! Tender and very flavorful. Generous portion too!
    Shirley T.

    Enjoyed a nice meal here despite the bad reviews. The service wasn't spectacular but it was as attentive as we needed it to be. My only complaint was when we asked our waiter if they had tiramisu he promptly said "No" and walked away. The busboy overheard and saw our reaction and immediately came over and suggested other options so we went with the creme brulée. Nice save buddy! For dinner, I had the ossobucco and risotto for the first time ever and I was pleasantly satisfied. The veal was tender and flavorful, the risotto was slightly undercooked but still delicious. We also had the grilled chicken with rosemary potatoes and pomodoro penne with chicken. All the dishes we ordered were delicious. The interior is industrial meets old school Italian decor. Ambiance was great!

    Pretty awesome spaghetti alla carbonara.

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    12 years ago

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    11 years ago

    Avoid this restaurant at all cost!! The vege soup tasted like water......horrible! Other food is ok, but it is not worth the price!

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    11 years ago

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    Il Cestino Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Il Cestino

    I was really craving another raw seafood platter while in Milan and decided on Il Cestino after reading some decent reviews of this place.

    Mentioned in 13 reviews

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    Fishbar de Milan - Unopened

    Fishbar de Milan

    4.8(10 reviews)
    0.5 kmMoscova

    Fushbar de Milan - walked 15 minutes from Duomo. I had it marked on my Yelp page to visit and here…read morewe are. Not too many seafood restaurants and this place fit the bill. Thanks Yelpies for the nice photos. We opted to sit at the patio by the street. They made it little better by putting a facade between the street and the sidewalk. No smokers but that didn't last long. In Italy, outside seating means someone will be smoking next to you. Guaranteed. When we got here, thr waiter started shaking his head when I said no reservation. After conferring with another waiter, we got seated and things started rolling. Bread was brought out and asked for bottled water. To my surprise, cuperto was free and Pellagrino was only €3.50 Chilled vino bianco was delicious with the two items we shared. I got the grilled octopus served on top of the mashed potatoes. (POLPO CROCCANTE Purè, pomodorini semi dry, paté di olive nere) It was a large serving and grilled to perfection. The fish soup (ZUPPA DI PESCE Pomodoro, calamari, polipetti, seppie, gamberi, cozze, vongole, crostini di pane) had flavor that I wasn't use to. Salty, thick soup base? Definitely better to dip with scarpetta. Wasn't happy that one clam and one mussels didn't open up. Our waiter were on top of everything till we were ready to go. Guy next to us rolled a cigarette and started smoking and I was ready to roll out of there. Took while to get the bill after repeatedly asking for it. Overall, we only scratched the surface and love to come back and spend exploring other items like raw fish platers. Inside!

    Good: staff super friendly, accommodating; crispy octopus - easily one of the best octopus dishes…read moreI've ever tried Not so good: the marinated anchovies appetizer is a half-opened tin of anchovies, a few pads of butter, and triangles of white toast, and it's 21EUR; when it arrived, it almost felt like someone was pranking me. It made me feel bad that I was spending so much money on a tin of anchovies. I ate it and didn't complain as that's not in my nature. Charging this much for someone to crack open a tin of fish is wild. It's such a shame about the anchovies, but the crispy octopus was good. Be forewarned when you see "marinated anchovies" on the menu, and just know you're just getting a cracked open tin of anchovies.

    Photos
    Fishbar de Milan - Interior

    Interior

    Fishbar de Milan - Coperto - no charge

    Coperto - no charge

    Fishbar de Milan

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    Papà Francesco - Spaghetti ai frutti di mare

    Papà Francesco

    4.1(143 reviews)
    0.7 kmCentro Storico
    €€€

    After a long day at a conference this was perfect. Sat outside, service was very friendly, and…read morefood was excellent!

    I literally wrote 4 paragraphs and Yelp glitched and deleted my draft…read more Please make sure to ask them to charge you in Euros because we didn't get the option by the owner and he charged us in USD which costs us more. He's been in business for 44 years so obviously he knows but still charged us in USD which is kinda shady IMO. We decided to dine here due to all the reviews and photos posted. When we approached the restaurant, the owner immediately said "Ni Hao" which I thought was kinda racist. What if I wasn't Chinese? Mink felt offended but we committed to dining there so we did. He asked if we wanted to dine inside or outside. Since it was chilly for Mink, we opted to dine inside where it was 90% full due to a Chinese tour group. They all had the same dish so we figured preset menu for them. I wasn't sure what I was going to get but since they all ate the Ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese in Crosta, I decided to order that as it was one of the dishes I was considering. Mink ordered their Spaghetti ai frutti di mare. I'm not sure why but the owner exclusively took care of us. He also made it a point to bring a photo over of Jay Chow saying he's dined there 4-5 times in the last few years. Maybe that's why the Chinese tour group eats there? He was arrogant enough to brag about how much money he's made because of Jay Chow. There were lots of celebrities that dined there from what gathered looking at his wall of fame. I bet he didn't charge any of them in USD *smh* The Ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese in Crosta was really good and probably the best we had in Milan. They must be able to make this dish with their eyes closed at this point with the daily Chinese tour groups dining there. Their Spaghetti ai frutti di mare was decent but didn't have as much seafood in the dish as other restaurants and the flavor was about average. The bread and EVOO offered was legit though! I loved it and I normally hardly ever eat the complimentary bread. Food is good overall and customer service felt extra. If we didn't get charged USD, wasn't getting bragged to about how much money he made off Jay Chow and wasn't greeted with a "Ni Hao" then the place is 4 stars. Since all that did happened, 2.5 stars.

    Photos
    Papà Francesco
    Papà Francesco - Ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese in Crosta

    Ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese in Crosta

    Papà Francesco - Papa Francesco himself. The perfect choice for an authentic Italian meal.

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    Papa Francesco himself. The perfect choice for an authentic Italian meal.

    Il Cestino - italian - Updated June 2026

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