Flaminia

Don’t expect burrata or tiramisu at Giovanni Pilu’s harbourside restaurant Flaminia. The menu takes inspiration from Italy’s port cities – Napoli, Cagliari, Venezia, Genova, Palermo – with four dishes from each.

For antipasti, try charred toast wearing a sweep of baccala mantecato (Venezia), the salt cod whipped hard with olive oil but still retaining bite. Or half-moons of mozzarella in carrozza (Napoli), the crisp-fried sandwiches topped with a single Cetara anchovy, the cheese filling stretching for miles.

There’s beef-shin ragu if you want it, but better to stay Sardinian and pick the spaghetti, sweet with spanner crab, fragrant with lemon myrtle and rich with bottarga. Dressings are light and balanced. Seasoning is precise. Sauces are intensified, but not so much that they’re heavy or strung out. It’s a pleasure to eat, basically.

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