Trusty Italian is what you will get at Chianti. Be it the food, ambience or even the fine wine. Every meal at Chianti starts with DIY bruschetta, where you can rub bits of basil leaves, garlic on to crusty slices of bread and then drench it with lots of olive oil or balsamic vinegar and tuck it into your mouth. Go course by course with the antipasti first — the Crostini Con Carne with bits of parma ham, chicken and lashings of pesto on crusty bread is rather good. The stringy Mozzarella Fritta — batter-fried mozzarella served with a tangy balsamic dip is quite moreish too.
Skip the soups and salad, and head straight into the pasta section with everything from tortellini to ravioli and gnocchi on offer. Their Carbonara is tops. But we often end up eating the Pollo Al Repieni — chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella, asparagus and sage, and cut into roundels, and served with rosemary potatoes. The lamb chops here are generously portioned and come with really sticky, meaty balsamic juice, grilled veggies and rosemary potatoes. And so, when we can’t jet set to Italy (which is usually all the time!), Chianti satiates us with authentic flavours. And even if you frequent it as we do, there’s plenty of options to keep you from getting bored.