Marvellous Meal At Osteria Modigliani Restaurant In Pinner

Problem
Where can we get a great meal?

Answer
The owner of Friends in Pinner left at the end of last year. But one of his old chefs has a restaurant around the corner, Modigliani, where you can get international style food with some Italian touches, and a great selection of Italian wines. He's the real deal. Some of his displayed wines come from his family in Italy, a village where everybody makes wine. His uncle is the man at the St James restaurant in Bushey.

The Chef
This chef has also worked at Fellini in Hatch End and Incanto in Harrow. He comes from Puglia, the heel of Italy.

Menu
Black olives with cocktail sticks and bread appeared immediately. The bread was white, and brown seed bread. I thought I detected sesame seeds spread through the bread.

We chose the two course and three-course set menus.

Wines
My wine was pink and sparkling. Exactly right. The requested tap water came up fast so I could get started on my drink.

Starter
Smoked salmon, copious amounts, on green and purple salad with a mild red pepper.

I can't speak for the calamari, because I am allergic to shellfish. Calamari is Italian for squid. Baby squid, I understood from my fellow diner, are more tender. We wondered whether they were farmed. Frankly, when I am eating I would rather not think about that. Everybody was happy. "Very tender with crisp light batter."

Main Course
My chicken, again, was a generous portion. Mushrooms in cream sauce. Potatoes. My favourite.
"Beef in a smoked paprika sauce, cooked pink in the middle, just as I wanted it."

Recommended Dessert Chocolate Brown Eye
Absolutely the pièce de résistance - could not be resisted. My dessert's ingredients included amaretto biscuits giving crunch. A joy to behold and a lip sucking delight to eat. The chef's chef d'oeuvre.

Tiramisu. Apple in the centre. Soft and moist. Generous portion.

Service
We went at a quiet lunchtime and had excellent, attentive, obliging and smiling service from our server, plus frequent checks by the chef.

Portion Size
The portions were ample enough for me to ask for some to be wrapped to take home, which was done obligingly and efficiently.

Verdict
Great decor, great food and great service.

Where can you park? Right behind in the public pay and display car park.

Osteria Modigliani
Fine Italian Restaurant
52 Bridge Street
Pinner HA5 3JF.
Tel:020 8866 1555
www.osteriamodigliani.co.uk
info@osteriamodigliani.co.uk

Opening times
Tuesday to Friday
12-3pm and 6-9.30pm
Saturday 12-3 and 6-10
Sunday 12-4.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
See my previous posts on Modigliani and restaurants in north London and around the world. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Harrow-on-the-Hill's Incanto Restaurant - and A Romanian With Insights Into P r o e s t i

Problem
Where to eat with fussy friends?

Answer
Incanto Restaurant at Harrow-on-the-Hill.

Harrow-On-The-Hill
The drive up the steep hill takes you from modern Harrow through narrowing streets to ancient Harrow. At the summit is the school.

The statue of Elizabeth I looks down from high on the wall. Henry VIII's portrait dominates the green.

Buildings display various style of architecture. As you drive up your eyes are elsewhere. Parking is at a premium.

Once out of the car, you can enjoy the scenery. On the other side of the green from Incanto is an old red telephone box. It's the only thing which nobody has bothered to paint. But still red, evoking the good old days.

So British. A shop window show the boys' school uniforms and straw boaters. Who's for cricket?

Incanto Restaurant
The deli at the front seems to have expanded. It probably hasn't. I love the amusing signs. In the deli section you can see the food being cooked.

Beyond the beams and glass is the restaurant at the back. Incanto restaurant has changed hands but the standards is still  just as high.

Menu Choice
The choice is not large. However, everything is cooked fresh.

Midweek they have a busy lady's lunch. Pizza.

Children also have their own menu. It's suitable for children aged seven and under in both style and, I presume, portion sizes.

Tables and Seating
It was a hot day and we moved away from the sun streaming though an overhead window to the back. Usually I like to sit against the wall. Back to the wall gives me a feeling of security. I can watch who is arriving - nobody creeping up. A chance to wave down a waiter. A  chance to put down my bag without tripping up the waiters and passers-by. An opportunity to admire the decor, as well as the other diners.

But that's the problem. Other diners can be a distraction. This time I sat facing the wall. I found this new for me position had the advantage of encouraging me to give my dear friends my undivided attention.

Our server was from Romania, P r o e s t i. We had driven through it on the way back to Bucharest. Its the last place you drive through before the airport. We had speculated as to what would make somebody leave P r o e s t i for London.

The girl from Romania was as delighted to meet tourists who had passed through her town as we were to meet her.  (More about her city in the next post.)

We were all trying to lose weight and keep fit, and had our eyes on the dessert menu, so we went without starters. I recalled that the dried parsnip on the soup had been wonderful on my last visit.

Complimentary amuse bouche. Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

Just as well we went without the starter. Up comes another course - the complimentary amuse bouche. (French for amuse mouth - an on the house taste.) What was it? Mushroom canapé. Just the right thing to keep the customers amused while the chef cooked up the main course.

Two of us had deliberately chosen different dishes for our main course so we could share out the vegetables and get more variety.

The dishes were a delight to look at. All four dishes looked good.

Meat dish.

Fish dish.

Delightful Desserts
At first we were not happy with the lack of fruit in the desserts. All sugar, pastry, little fruit. However, my chocolate dessert came with a choice of ice cream or sorbets. I find vanilla is boring, are rarely tastes of vanilla. I asked for an alternative. The child's menu had more flavours and the server recited them.

One person chose tiramisu. My friend chose melon, with blueberry sorbet. She said the melon had not much flavour but the blueberry sorbet was the best she had ever tasted.

Chocolate dessert with fruit sorbet. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I was equally excited by my dessert.

The coffee came with neatly presented cubes of contrasting brown and white sugar. One row of three white cubes, one row of three brown. I was tempted to rearrange them into alternating lines, checker board style. But I did not want to handle sugar others might be eating.

All in all, a very satisfactory meal.

Descend the wide spiral stairs to the toilets. An amusing picture of two squirrels is at the bottom of the stairs. Inside the ladies is what I missed even in the five star hotel in Brasov, Roumania. Incanto had what all grand hotels and restaurants in London and around England provide. Gourmet hand gel and matching moisturiser.

Perfection.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. All photos by Angela Lansbury, copyright. More articles on London, England, Roumania, other tourist trips and tips on learning languages. Please share links to your favourite articles.

Honey of a restaurant, Incanto, at Harrow-on-the-Hill

With some trepidation I went to Incanto Restaurant, Harrow-on-the-Hill because it had changed hands and had mixed reviews. I am glad to report that we had a delightful meal. Beyond the deli which overlooks the street is in the upstairs restart, secluded, but brightly lit by overhead windows. The mirror along one wall adds to the spaciousness.

We were immediately shown to our booked table. The dishes started with bread and oil served on a wooden platter. Then came the amuse gueule of white cheese creamed in a teeny shot glass. I assumed it was sweet but it was cheese. Tasty, like blue cheese.

My starter of pea soup had a line of fresh peas in the middle which was pleasing to the eye and mouth. Green asparagus contrasting with yellowy cream sauce was wonderful on the eye and tongue.

My main course of veal with creamed potatoes was pleasant. With three main dishes I was able to sample some of the thick steak and thick chips, as well as the third exotic looking main course of duck.

Honeycomb

Chocolate and fruit

Desserts
The highest point was the desserts.Chocolate with a melting middle and raspberries on the side. We'd seen it carried past and two of the three of us chose that. I oped to have something different on principle. By process of elimination I decided not to go for the cheeses, nor the mixed ice creams, although the flavours sounded lovely, and the dessert with meringue sounded just too sugary. That left me with a dessert which featured honeycomb. Wonderful.

For drinks I started with Prosecco. Can't go wrong. The other two shared a bottle of red wine. Too much for two, as one was driving. But the staff provided a cork so we could take the leftovers home. i had looked at the wine list earlier and noted a glass of muscat which did not appear on the dessert menu. So you have more options to go with your coffees, or instead, before or after.

The only disappointment was that although I had phoned earlier to point out that one of us had a birthday and to ask if we could have a candle, the person answering the phone had not noted this. I thought I'd also mentioned that 'The birthday boy is parking the car'.

However when the desserts had appeared without a candle, and nothing immediately after that, and the others were asking for the bill. I rushed back to the desk to ask where was the candle.

After a quick confab, that the desserts had already been served, somebody said, 'with the petits fours'. We had not ordered coffee which I presumed came with petits fours, but they brought another dessert with the honeycomb with a candle which was very welcome. We liked the petits fours of chocolate, soft nougat and ice cream.

Service from Irish Liz from Belfast was all smiles. We were all very pleased with our evening.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.