Luca is a nice restaurant near Farringdon. It is a very large place with different areas which have different mood. They have cozy semi-private rooms as well as a glass terrace with a high ceiling and a separate outdoor terrace for outdoor dining or private events.
The food is delicious and beautiful. There are many Italian dishes but with a modern twist. I would say it is a good restaurant for weekend lunch or dinner. But it is mostly a la carte restaurant. In the Mishelin traditions they have chef's menu sets but dishes come from the a la carte menu. And for all I know, people at another table may have a different subset of dishes than you.
We ordered the chef's set for £95 per person and one set of wine pairing (sorry, the full pairing is too large for me if I want to continue make photos this day so I prefer to share). And pear bellinis before the meal.
Everything that we were served:
Bread and olive oil - usually here in London bread is served with all kinds of butter, but in Luca it was different because in Italy they usually serve bread with good olive oil instead of butter
Monkfish crudo with apple, pickled beetroot and buttermilk sauce. Monkfish crudo is a regular on the menu, but in different seasonal variations. Overall interesting and tasty - a good starter
Burrata with chilli and radicchio salad is also a signature dish. I like burrata, especially a good burrata they had, but I would prefer it as a separate main dish due to its heaviness.
A huge part of Italian cuisine is pasta. Here at Luka the pasta is handmade and of high quality. We had the ravioli with ricotta, parmesan mousse and chocolate sauce – it was good and unusual, I liked it.
The main course was grilled pork with meat sauce, sweet chutney, crispy pulled pork and a slice of pumpkin. Overall not bad, but if I could choose from the menu instead of the chef’s recommendation, I would have chosen something else. Pork dishes are usually pretty boring because they are just fatty and all the flavor comes from the side dish. Or maybe I’m just not a pork fan.
The dessert was chocolate caramel mousse with rum raisins and mascarpone ice cream. Too sweet for me and too classic in taste, I would have preferred panna cotta from the menu if I had a choice.
I also want to mention the wine pairing – it was really enjoyable. And the communication with a sommelier was a delight.
Conclusion: Luca is a very good restaurant and I am glad I visited it. The food is excellent and tasty. But I am not sure that it is a good choice if you are expecting the Michelin experience when restaurant serves only one testing set during a day and amuse you with unusual combinations. But overall nothing bad about this place.
