Alloro is located on the reception floor, to the right of the reception, in fact. It is a lovely, naturally lit up space. As soon as you are seated, your table will be laid with home made spiced butters and lovely basket of warm bread is brought for you to take your pick. I opted for the olive foccacio and was not disappointed at all.


We left the entire meal in the hands of Sous Chef, Chef Arun and asked him to decide on what we should have and even the wine that should accompany the meal. He chose to serve a heavy red Reserve- The Castillo De Molina, a Chilean wine, that could have done with some decanting, but still proved to be one of those wines that worked well from Antipasti to Dolce.

Another soup that came to the table was a first for me, the Bollito Misto - a wine based soup broth with beef and chorizo. This deep red coloured soup had chunks of chorizo, which in the wine based broth brought about an interesting blend of acidic flavours. The soup has done its time simmering and its evident in the flavours. I personally loved it, but can imagine it being an acquired taste for some. The presence of a Ribollita in the soup section made me very happy. Very few places know how to make a good one.


 Chef Arun brought to the table next the Panzanella Salad. Traditionally a bread based salad, this was an interesting twist with the salad presented inside a toasted, hollowed out bread shell - a salad Bunny Chow style if you may! Light, refreshing and very colourful, this salad packed all the crunch to make it a good one. And definitely not to miss on it are the Parmesan biscuits! Bite into one and tell me I am wrong!

I have never tried an Italian rendition of the soft shell crab and so this one, when brought to the table piqued my interest quite a bit. The Granchi Soft Shell is placed on a bed of warm parmesan sauce that is speckled with watercress. The crab is fried crisp and makes a perfect base for the sauce that can only be described as a good one way ticket to food heaven.

Our main course was the Guanciale di Manzo - Sous Vide cooked beef cheeks in a wine reduction paired with creamy polenta. Beef cheeks are not easy to work with - but these had done enough of time to quite literally be melt in the mouth. The creamy polento provided a great, if rather heavy offset to the beef cheeks.


Anoushka loves Apple Pie and so that made an appearance - warm with shredded apple, sprinkled with cinnamon and spot on.

Chef brought out the classic Tiramisu, because you can't really do Italian without thinking Tiramisu at least once. The orange segments add that nice citrus touch to an indulgent dessert.