The buzzing rue de Buci (close to our inns) is a good alternative if you happen to’re on the lookout for a restaurant or bar to take pleasure in. The road is pedestrianised, permitting for giant terraces on the pavement, and there’s a large alternative of fashion for any funds. It’s as much as you whether or not you folks watch on the road whereas consuming your meals or get a comfortable seat inside, generally in surprisingly large areas…
… like Dandino, which was once known as Luigi (apparently the chilly inside design and so-so pizzas didn’t make it a hit – some evaluations even talked about mice!) So, newly decked ou in pink velvet and looking out like a Thirties luxurious liner, will Dandino keep away from the errors that ran Luigi aground?
Dandino from the road, its small pavement terrace and mini-terrace up entrance (primarily for people who smoke within the winter, we think about) give the impression of a petite restaurant with a tiny bar house and never a lot else, however seems might be deceiving.
The lengthy hall alongside the bar results in a big again room with a glass ceiling for pure gentle and sufficient tables for at the least 60 folks. The retro vibe comes from the busy carpet, pleated wall materials and plenty of velvet. It’s a heat design and the house is used to the max, i.e. the tables are very shut collectively. Extra about that later…
Upon arrival we’re led to our desk within the massive rear room. It’s Saturday evening, and unluckily there are already two very marge tables of mates (at the least fifteen folks at every) able to drink cocktails, shriek and maybe eat some meals.
The room isn’t fully full but, however the noise makes dialog reasonably strained, and the loud music doesn’t assist (afterward, we’d stumble upon the DJ, mixing stay). Moreover, the tables are so small that a few of our private affairs need to be positioned on a padded stool subsequent to our desk, often ran into by the serving workers coming and going.
Decided to take pleasure in our dinner, we order our meals and a glass of wine every. The shared first course is a Puglia buratta ‘with truffle’ which arrives served on a raised plate (an odd and barely impractical alternative). The wine nevertheless does not flip up, however we begin anyway. The burrata may have been creamier, however is saved by the scrumptious crusty bread. “With truffle” seems to be a kind of tapenade and (we’re guessing) truffle oil. For a product that the web site says ‘comes straight from Italy’ we will solely think about that it was expedited by horse and cart.
There’s nonetheless no signal of the wine, but it surely’s time for the primary course. Dandino affords a good selection of salads, chilly meat picks, toasted panini sandwiches (
), risottos and naturally pizzas, together with one with caviar for less than 129€.
Avoiding this outlandish suggestion, we order tagliatelle with two kinds of salmon (cooked & cubed, and smoked & sliced) and fusilli with pesto.
The tagliatelle is cooked to simply the correct consistency and copiously served with loads of very creamy sauce, a bit of too creamy for us. Between the cream and the amount, we have been unable to complete all of it.
As for the fusilli, the portion is as soon as once more very massive (double what we may have eaten), served with parmesan each grated and sliced (slight overkill), and the pasta appears a tad overcooked in locations. The pesto is admittedly good and tangy although.
Don’t fear about leaving Dandino hungry (you gained’t) however extra delicate stomachs could wish to keep away from the pasta.
Oh, and our glasses of wine lastly arrive! Higher late than by no means.
It’s time for dessert, and we have now excessive hopes – the web site says the restaurant has its personal Italian pastry chef, so no excuses might be accepted!
We select:
— a “café gourmand“, which is an espresso espresso with mini-desserts, in our case a small tiramisu (common), a fruit salade (not notably Italian) and two macarons (tremendous sugary, no discernible style and as soon as once more not notably Italian. We didn’t end them), and
— a scoop of ice cream (not dangerous, however not distinctive both) which arrives prettily introduced with a cone and a bowl of whipped cream.
As you will have most likely understood, Dandino generally delivers amount over high quality, the service isn’t as tight because it could possibly be, and the noise degree within the again room (on a Saturday at the least) is off the charts.
It’s not all dangerous although – if you happen to’re with a bunch of mates or household (with or with out youngsters) and also you’re on the lookout for someplace full of life with one thing for everybody, this can be a crowd-pleaser with more-or-less common costs.
We would even return ourselves, however maybe on a weekday, or at lunchtime, or on the terrace… That caviar pizza undoubtedly wants tasting, proper? 
Dandino (right here) is open for lunch and dinner seven days per week
On-line bookings right here
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