La Grotta Review
From Moscowiki
| La Grotta |
Cuisine: Italian
Address: Bolshaya Bronnaya ul., 27/4
Metro: Kropotkinskaya
Tel: 694-3057, 202-0956, 221-4983
Open from 12:00 until 24:00.
By Igor Zaslonov
The La Grotta Restaurant is a welcome addition to the list of quality restaurants in Central Moscow. The best landmark to use to find this Italian restaurant is its antithesis: McDonalds on Pushkinskaya Ploschad. Keep walking pass McDonalds, turn right and you'll see La Grotta's sign above your head.
The atmosphere is clean, light and modern, and the thick walls help keep the noise of Moscow's streets outside where it belongs.
When we arrived one Wednesday evening, we were immediately impressed by the efficient waiter service; Within minutes we were seated in the no-smoking area and our order was quickly taken. If you don't have your Russian friends with you don't worry - the waiters speak English and Italian.
The varied menu features not only the usual Italian pastas and pizzas, but a variety of more unusual dishes, many of them prepared with seafood.
I opted for the Exotic Salad, with shrimps and mushrooms (Ru 330). It turned out to be not only excellent but imaginative. The mix of ingredients with tomatoes, avocado and dressed with a sweet balsamico dressing with a musty caramel flavor that was very delicious. The mysterious Italian Ruccola grass, which looked exactly like dandelion leaves, gave the salad a relish of wild nature.
But my companions chose items that were even more exotic. One selected the salmon and tuna tartar (Ru 380). She was very happy about its uncommon taste, and declined to share a single tiny slice of it despite the generous portion. My other friend selected the octopus salad (Ru 250). The combination of tender deviled fish meat with boiled potatoes was unexpected, but one seemed to be the least impressive of the three.
The wait for the main course was about 15 minutes - but there was something worth the wait. The Chicken alla Nicoise (Ru 350) was probably the best chicken I have ever had. A magician in the kitchen removed all of the small bones, so I didn't have to put fork and knife aside to finish it. The chicken was obviously very young, but very fleshy for its size. The seasoning, a condiment made of olives was yet another cuisine masterpiece. I would recommend this dish to even the most discriminating gourmet.
But this didn't seem to jaundice my companions, who selected the Chef's Filet (Ru 380), while the other devoured a picturesque Rigatoni all amatriciana pasta course (Ru 240). I kept stealing envious looks at the filet.
Of Course, at La Grotta you've got a choice. You can forget about the kitchen and come here only to drink the wine. We spent the night with a mid-priced Col di Sasso (Ru 250 for 150 ml), but you can also have something more refined, such as the Lugana San Bernadetto (Ru 1050 per bottle), which reminds one of the best Burgundys. There's also the Piedmontese Barrolo di Saralunga (Ru 2870 a bottle), which was quite good. Almost every wine category is represented by several offers in a variety of price ranges. The choice of mixed drinks may not be as extensive, but all of the most popular liquors are on hand.
To finish off your evening, don't forget to taste their Tiramisu (Ru 180) with a cup of a good espresso (Ru 50).
Heavenly!
15.07.02.
