Il Cestino

Service was decent, although the waiter told us the meat and cheese platter was 15 euro total, not 15 euro per person. So that was a surprise, with a party of 5. Wine was decent and they had the heaters on outside.

I would rate the osso buco with saffron risotto 4 stars but my husband ordered the seafood paella which had broken mussel shells (small) throughout the dish. He cut the inside of his mouth which rendered the dish almost inedible. So that is why I rated a 3 overall.

This place was recommended by a local so my friend and I came here for dinner on our first stop in Milan for some pizza and pasta. The seafood pasta was cooked in a iron pan with a pizza dough foil. The pizza crust had a great seafood pasta seasoning and was great to munch on with the pasta. The pizza was light and well made.

My friend and I stopped by this spot as our first dinner in Milan, and of course we got pizza and pasta. Everything was absolutely delicious. The seafood pasta was particularly interesting; it was cooked in a pizza dough wrapping, which was unexpected. All in all, a solid first meal in Milan!

I was really craving another raw seafood platter while in Milan and decided on Il Cestino after reading some decent reviews of this place. From this outside this looks like a tourist trap, and the prices are relatively higher than other Milanese restaurants I've been to. However the food here was delicious!

I ordered the Royal Plateau, and added on a scallop and sea urchin. Every single item on here was extremely fresh and flavorful. My favorites were the red prawns and oysters. The prawns remind me of Argentinian red shrimp: a little sweet and very tender. The oysters were as good as if not better than any of the fancier oyster bars I've been to before.

I'm honestly not sure why other reviewers had issues with this restaurant. The food was great. All of the wait staff were friendly and spoke proficient English. Restaurant was in a prime location, excellent for people watching if that's your thing. I would most certainly eat here again, simply for the oysters.

The food at this restaurant was good. We had the linguine pasta with mixed sea food covered in a pizza crust. This was the better dish with a decent amount of seafood. The other dish was the spaghetti with clams. The amount of clams was low and the sauce was on the bland side.

I will echo the comments of another reviewer. The cover charge of 7 euro and the water charge of 3.50 euro (clearly it was tap water in a recycled unsealed water bottle), were too high if justified at all. The entree prices were on the high side, especially the spaghetti with clams.

Service was good, but this definitely seemed to be too touristy for my taste.

This place was recommended by a local. It was delicious. It was indeed a little pricey and the staff was a little pushy, but probably would go back if we ever found ourself back in Milan

Stopped here for lunch on a quick visit to Milan. The risotto appetizer was delicious, and the cheesecake dessert might be the best I've ever had. My husband had the sea bass ravioli and loved it.

Horrible service, overpriced meal. Waiter gave us horrible recommendations (do not get the lobster ragout) with bland flavor and then forced us to tip him at the end. Huge tourist trap. Would not recommend.

We got a recommendation to come here and boy glad we did.
Fabulous food in the Brera district with a cozy yet elegant setting.

Ashik our waiter gave us some fabulous recommendations that were all amazing.

We even got friendly with the neighbors, one from Austria and the other from Chicago.

Ah Italy! Just what you hope for.

Returned to eat here. Food is not the same standard anymore. The original lobster pasta I loved is no longer the same. Sauce was different, pasta no longer homemade.

Server tried to convince me to get a particular fish, but when I looked at it in the display, I could tell it wasn't fresh (eyes were all cloudy).

Disappointing, but there are many other places to eat in Milan!