Restaurant Rosario

So last night I took three friends of mine who were over from the UK to an Italian restaurant on the Peperstraat. It's not the first time I've been and the eponymous proprietor is also a friend of mine, it was however the best meal I've had there to date.

The restaurant itself is located across the water from the Nieuwmarkt on a slightly out of the way street called the Peperstraat. It's a simple, intimate dining space with tables just far enough away, plenty of large windows, interesting art and the kitchen installed as the centre-piece in plain view of all the customers.

The menu is changed daily, with the current seasonal specialities being exceptional. After a very pleasant bottle of Valdobbiadene prosecco we were presented with the menu which featured trucs such as serrano ham wrapped scallops with sage and lemon risotto made with bream and saffron for primi and starters.

After a suitably extended time to allow us to decide which of the tantalising morsels to select (read argue who was having), our order was taken and the two chefs visibly got down to work.

The starters were prepared and cooked perfectly: my scallops were large, succulently cooked and subtly enhanced by the complimentary flavours of the Serrano ham and sage. My friends ordered quail on a bed of mushrooms with a red wine jus, which was cooked just enough to retain its delicate flavour without allowing the bird to dry out.

The main courses were equally superb, my rare cooked lamb rolls coated in sesame with green pesto were heaven, and although they came with no accompaniment, none was needed. The tower of beef tornedoes had been artfully skewered with a baked stick of spaghetti and layered though a potato rosti and pesto sauce.

Silence reigned for the next 10m while every plate was scraped and its contents devoured.

Desert by this time was looking like a tall order, so we ordered some espressos and grappa (though no Sassacai or Ornellai unfortunately) and headed off to finish our night in the seedy underbelly of the red light district: hey I had to show the tourists something!

Price for the evening was fair for the quality of the food, with the bill coming to 200 Euros for the four of us including a fabulous bottle of merlot from Roasarios home village.

You can reach Rosario at: +31 (0)20 6270280