La Locanda

I just nipped in here for a quick glass of vino with my pals who were already dining there. When I walked through the door, it was like I was late for my own party, a gent, maybe the manager, greeted me at the door with open arms and everyone welcomed me with a smile. I’m not sure that everyone gets this favourable welcome but it’s worth a try and if not, you can still revel in the heartwarming food and cosily lit atmosphere!

Italian food on a cold wet Sunday night for dinner sounded perfect to me when my friend suggested La Laconda.
This place is a cute bistro that has a romantic and cozy atmosphere. The tables are small, but the place can accommodate a group perfectly fine since the tables can be easily moved around.
The menu is fairly simple. They offer about 4 – 5 different types of small plates and only 4 different mains from their menu: spaghetti with meatballs, Italian sausage, chicken Milanese, frittata. They did offer 3 additional mains from their special which were all written out on a chalkboard. With my indecisiveness I chose the spicy Italian sausage.
The dish came out awesome. It had tons of vegetables, 2 Italian sausages laid on top of a bed of spinach and 4 slices of focaccia bread. The sausages were very flavourful as a result of the various spices it contained. Though the sausages were split in half, the outer part of the sad sausages had a snap when I bit it. The salad wasn’t anything special but it was the perfect pairing with the sausage since it brought a coolness to the spice. The focaccia bread were cut in small pieces and were crunch outside but chewy inside.
I decided not to get dessert, but instead get a hot chocolate. I ordered their special hot chocolate that came with marshmallows and a chocolate flake. The hot chocolate was rich but not overly dense and the marshmallows definitely made it richer and over the top. I couldn’t finish it and ended up sharing it with my friend.
The only disappointment I had was the fact that they didn’t have my favourite Italian red wine– Sangiovese. First Italian restaurant I went to that didn’t have any or ran out. Gutted… Oh well, maybe next time!
I like this place because the food was on point, the staff were nice and helpful, and the decoration as well as the set up of the restaurant made me forget I was in Edinburgh but transported somewhere else. For that, I give this restaurant a thumbs up since most restaurant can’t easily do that!