Monello (@ The Hotel Ivy)

Monello, which has been open for almost a year now does some fabulous things for a hotel restaurant. But there are some things it does remarkably bad.

Starting with the good. Crudos, just fantastic. Sea urchin, scallops and langoustines were all bright, crisp and endearing in every way possible. The best of the bunch might have been the sea bass with just a dollop of caviar and a touch of creme fraiche. Awesome.

Other highlights were the grilled octopus, and the cod fish sandwich, which, if I had to really think about it, made me almost forget about the Filet-O-Fish, but then I realized nothing could rival the Filet-O-Fish because, well, the Filet-O-Fish isn’t really a fish sandwich. It’s just a damn tasty sandwich. But I digress.

Back to Monello. While the highlights were certainly high, the lows were tragically so. The gnocchi with crab and squid was gummy and flavorless, and the whole stuffed branzino made feel like I was eating poorly cooked succotash.

All that said, I’d be happy to go back to Monello just for the crudos. And so should you.

Cheers.

Monello (at the Hotel Ivy)