Crowne Plaza London City - Dicinnove Restaurant Review

I like popping into London with Mr R for some quiet 'us' time.  We were invited to try the Crowne Plaza London City across from Blackfriars Station. Inside the hotel there are two top class restaurants, Chinese Cricket Club and across the entrance hall the Italian restaurant Diciannove19 the heart and soul of Italian cuisine.

It was the Diciannove we were dining in on this occasion.

Our Hostess, Danielle asked if we wanted time between courses to relax which was exactly what we wanted.  I also asked for Danielle's recommendations and put our meal in her hands.
While we read the menu we had a huge and beautiful wooden bread bowl to nibble on and which would go really well with our starter.  The different breads are made in their own kitchens daily.

We started with a sharing platter - Il Supremo which can be ordered to serve 1-2, 3-4 or 4-6 people.

I really like the new trend in sharing platters.  Ours had loads of goodies such as Fried Calamari, fried zucchini, proscuitto toscano, fennel salami, mortadella di bologna, parmegiano reggiano, mozzarella cheese and pickles.

We then had a pasta course.  I had the Tagliatelle al Ragu, a sauce of slow cooked beef and pork chunks so tender they were just falling apart in a tomato based sauce full of flavour and fresh herbs.

Mr R had the Spaghettini All'astice - pasta with a fresh lobster, pigato (a wine made from the white pigato grape), thyme and fresh tomato sauce.

At this point we should have stopped but Danielle wanted us to try the main courses.  I ordered the Pesce Spada, a char-grilled swordfish steak with cherry tomatoes and rocket salad.  I put the slice of lemon in view for the photo to give an impression of the size of the swordfish.  It was HUGE but perfectly cooked, medium rare and so much taste.  I must admit I struggled to finish it but persevered!

Mr R ordered the Fegato dei Vitello a calves liver with a sauteed spinach, raising, pine kernels and balsamic reduction.  The Italians cook calves liver to perfection, tender and without a strong 'liver' taste, subtle and tasty.  Mr R always orders calves liver in an Italian restaurant and this one certainly did not disappoint!

I do like to order a dessert but I am afraid we were so full there was no way we could eat another mouthful.  The temptation to order the Tiramisu was great but I had to say no.  I would like to pop in for coffee and pudding some other time when I could do it justice and really enjoy it.

A Grappa Ian Italian liqueur made from grapes) and a coffee and we were ready to wend our way home. Our train home to St Albans stopped right across the street at Blackfriars station. This was one occasion I wished we had booked a room in the hotel so we could just float upstairs to sleep!

I was a guest of Crowne Plaza London City and was not required to write a positive review.  As usual all opinions and photos are my own.