EL&N Gae Aulenti — Restaurant in Milan

We were greeted and seated quickly — a good start — and our drinks arrived promptly and efficiently. With fond memories of excellent visits to EL&N in both Rome and London, we were expecting another great evening of delicious food and stylish service. Sadly, that’s where the good news ends.

As the night went on, several confused families were turned away, apparently expecting a Halloween party that didn’t exist.

Unfortunately, the real horror show turned out to be the food.

My chicken club sandwich arrived just about warm — not hot, not cold, just awkwardly undecided. The chicken was strangely dry around the edges, reminiscent of something that had spent a few too many minutes in a microwave. A bold choice for a restaurant, really. Then came the fish and chips for our son. The sauces set the tone — the curry sauce was cold and gloopy, while the mushy peas (the evening’s “special,” apparently) were so watery they could’ve qualified as soup. The chips were dry and oily, managing the impressive feat of being both at once. As for the fish — let’s just say the batter had the unmistakable texture of something reheated and then reheated again for luck.

To make matters worse, a barrier was put up well before closing time, which really took away the charm of the “EL&N experience.” It’s hard to enjoy the famous aesthetic when you feel like you’ve been invited to the after-hours clean-up.

All in all, what should’ve been another lovely meal turned into a cautionary tale. From the lukewarm chicken to the mushy mushy peas, this visit was less “Instagram-worthy brunch” and more “culinary plot twist.” A real shame, because we know EL&N can do so much better.

But the experience did contribute to a long...

This experience happened two years ago, but it still lingers in my mind to this day. My girlfriend and I just wanted to enjoy a relaxed drink at this place, but from the very beginning, the waitress was extremely unfriendly towards us.

At first, we were handed menus. Shortly after, I had to step out for a moment to visit the Lego store next door, as I had forgotten something there. During my brief absence, my girlfriend had her menu taken away in a harsh manner. When I returned, we had to ask for a new one – to our surprise, there were still plenty available. This gave us the feeling that they deliberately wanted to get rid of us. What was particularly irritating was the impression that my girlfriend was practically being "shown the door" because her date (me) had supposedly left her – a highly disrespectful gesture.

Despite the bad first impression, we decided to overlook our frustration for the sake of the atmosphere and ordered drinks. Unfortunately, they were a major disappointment in terms of taste. The desserts, on the other hand, were very delicious, although overall far too expensive.

In conclusion, we absolutely cannot recommend this place: The service was incredibly rude and disrespectful, the prices were overpriced, and we didn’t like the...

EL&N has bright lights, pink and green shades, all over its walls, neon lights, and cute marble looking tables. It’s always booked, so you’re either lucky or prepared. If you have a table. It is the place that your girlfriend asks you to take her to so that she can take pictures in front of her Sunday brunch. I went to EL&N on a Sunday afternoon, excited about the brunch I was about to have. I ordered the Full English, an orange juice, a matcha oat latte and a cup of water (which they made me pay for by the way). I’m giving their food 2/5 stars not because the Full English, was not english (it had avocado and poached eggs - staples of California breakfast/brunch), but because the food got cold very fast, the bread tasted like sweet-ish cardboard and they messed up the bacon! The serveuse and the cashier were kind courteous and overall very welcoming and accommodating.

I think this place has potential, they just need to invest more on the staff in the kitchen than worry about what they look like. Overall the quality/price ratio is not balanced. I would say it is overpriced, you are mostly paying for the location and atmosphere than the food itself (since it’s so poor...