Don Lisander — Restaurant in Milan

Our go-to restaurant in Milano.

As expats in Tokyo, Japan for over a decade and being a couple of foodie, we are very spoiled with high quality food/cuisine.

We found this restaurant by accident in 2016 on our honeymoon very close to our hotel, and we fell in love with it right away. My very picky eater half Italian husband is always satisfied with their food. Me being a very difficult and picky person when it comes to food is happy with almost all their food.

Since then it became our tradition to go there every time we go back to Europe, when we do our traditional shopping vacation in Milano.

The atmosphere is very nice, nothing to complain about.

Travelling all over Asia and Europe I noticed the service styles under different countries and culture are very different, to be fair I think we can’t say “it is bad” just because it’s not the service we are used to. The service at this restaurant is correct in my opinion, in a normal and proper Italian manner, though could be a little bit more welcoming generally speaking, but nothing to really complain about. In my case they were very happy to help when I asked a hand to go down the stairs to the ladies room when I was sacred falling with my sky high heels.

All in all we really like this restaurant and we will keep our tradition to go back. Even with our kids when...

The restaurant seemed like a nice place to dine it - more fancy than the others I saw nearby during my first night in Milan.

The food was delicious but it failed to deliver on how it was cooked in some aspects.

We were served decent bread in the beginning with their in-house olive oil which was the best olive oil I've ever had. Could only munch on that.

For an appetizer we tried the burrata and the Milanese-style meatballs. Both were delicious and no remarks on that.

One of the mains was pasta and it was amazing. Full of flavour and perfect texture - both the pasta and the goose ragu. The other main - catoletta was also delicious. However the batter it was fried in was a bit soggy in fat. Furthermore, some of the potatoes were not properly cooked with one for the completely raw.

The tiramisu felt a bit dense and heavy. First time in Italy so not really sure how it's made best. However, the next day I had a other one which was much lighter and fuller in taste.

Overall, the restaurant was decent with apparently good quality products but a bit pricey for the overall quality of how the food...

Don Lisander is a lovely restaurant, especially in spring-summer when one can eat outdoors in their beautiful courtyard. It is hidden in the center of Milan, at a stone's throw from all the key iconic streets such as Via Montenapoleone, Via della Spiga, Piazza Scala and the Piazza Duomo. The food is top level traditional Milanese with an added array of modern dished to the selection, yet in line with the very tradition of the italian culinary tradition (risotto, ossobuco, cotoletta, excellent fish and meat etc.all cooked and presented very well). It is a place i take clients to for business lunches, but also a restaurant which is a wonderful setting for a romantic evening dinner. The staff friendly and attentive confirming the level of service one would expect from this iconic restaurant amongst my favourites, for work lunches and special dinners. Certainly a must if one wants an elegant and quiet setting for a business lunch, or simply a special beautiful setting within a quiet...