Having arrived back in Italy after a few months break, we decided finally to stay at The Mandarin Oriental, Como Lake. We needed some calm and to escape the current madness, so it was a no brainer to be here rather than in the buzzing city of Milan, this trip. I thought that the standard of their food at the bistro was better than Arva (The other restaurant in the hotel) I can describe the cuisine as simply cooked well and that is all you want. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just consistent, solid, and not somewhere that you need to avoid like the plague.
Let us start with the bread, I liked the crust on this, and the crumb was soft. As we were in Italy, I always feel the need to dip it into a good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Butter is reserved for France! This came as standard on the table; you don’t even need to ask.
The first dish to ease us into the menu was roasted cuttlefish, potatoes, and peas. The cuttlefish had the perfect scoring, it was tender and a pleasure to eat, very competent cookery here. On the plate looked like mini versions of pomme Anna, I noticed there were very thin layers of potato stacked on top of one another and slightly burnt on the edges. They were cooked all the way through but if I had to be critical a few minutes more would have made them perfect and super soft. The sauces married well with the rest of the plate and the peas crucial.
I took a side of grilled aubergines, they still held some bite in the middle, the fresh herbs, and onions on the top complementing well this vegetable preparation. I enjoyed the dressing bringing some saltiness and umami.
Next- Umbrine, Mediterranean broth. Firstly, on the menu it was clear that a broth was present in this dish which I was expecting but it was a sauce instead. It wasn’t working for me. I appreciated the time the chef took to remove the skin from the tomatoes, it revealed the true sweetness of the product, these tomatoes stood out, but the sauce let the whole dish down.
On another occasion we had a chance to sample more dishes from the menu, to start we took the bruschetta, burrata cheese, cherry tomatoes. The assorted colour tomatoes were the highlight here, the product was perfect. Sweet and superior, some of the best cherry tomatoes to date. I appreciated the paired back approach with a clean presentation and excellent products across the board. Without this fundamental basic rule, you just can’t do bruschetta well.
Now we must draw our attention to the grilled wild sea bass. The waiter came out to show us the fish in its fullest form before filleting. I am always nervous of bones but here there were non whatsoever in my portion of fish. The product shined, it was excellent, and it had been cooked with skilled hands. It has been a long time since I had a whole fish cooked this well.
The chef made us a delicious pomme puree with truffle off menu, to go with the fish. Smooth, not too buttery, well balanced with the seasoning and plenty of truffle. We couldn’t stop digging our spoon in. The other sides of tomatoes and grilled asparagus were also requested off menu and they all matched with the fish.
I decided to take a dessert to end this meal, and it could only be the cannolo with pistachio, chocolate, and black cherry. The portion was generous, one would have been enough but three arrived on the plate. The filling was addictive and delicious and the crisp coating on the outside meant I could have carried on eating without stopping, it was just so comforting. But I did stop after one, because eating three was just not reasonable! Who doesn’t love a cannolo?
CO.MO Bar and Bistrot serves a good standard of Italian food, in a warm and regal looking dining room. You are safe, it’s not going to be bad. Being able to eat in a room like this, where the food stands up to the environment, means you can go here and enjoy a pleasant night.
