CINQUE SENSI

Cinque Sensi was a massive disappointment.
We went there expecting much better things thanks to some great reviews we'd read, but it turned out to be one more over-hyped damp squib.
SKH, that may have been 'real' food, but you must also know 'real' Italian food well in order to know when it falls short of expectations.

The menu includes some classics, but falls woefully short in the imagination department.
Antipasti are few and uninspiring. So we ordered the sure classic - the carpaccio. As long as one has a great quality of meat, not much you can do to ruin the dish. While was well-seasoned, they tripped up on that one crucial aspect : the quality of the meat!

The 'primi' section (pastas, risottos) is ridden with dishes made explicitly to cater to un-Italian palates - pastas laden with creamy, cheesy sauces, etc. Yuck!
We ordered one of the only 'real', simple pastas - spaghetti with truffle oil and parmigiana - it is difficult to go wrong with this if you know the basics of Italian cooking. There are only 2 factors to get right, in fact - the cooking of the pasta and the temperature at which it is served. They went wrong on both counts (overcooked spaghetti and cold when served).

In the main course area, we stuck with the steak.
In a menu that's not very innovative, it is the classics that appeal the most and at the same time, are the best test of the fundamental quality of the kitchen.
This meat was better than the one in the carpaccio, however they couldn't cook it right. We asked for it rare, they brought it almost well-done. However, they were very gracious in offering take it back and redo it. Unfortunately, the new dish was just a tiny bit less cooked, very far from rare. We just ate it.

They do have an Italian chef, but just being Italian doesn't make one a great chef, does it?
This food falls far short of expectations, even more so because the simple classics fail the test.
I'm not going to wait to judge it on the basis of its un-Italian, crowd-pleasing dishes laden with chicken and cream.
Uninspiring menu, very average quality.

Oh, SKH - the wait staff is not Italian and French, but from Arab countries. But that's really not the point.