Walking into La Burrata in Darley Abbey feels like entering a confessional booth, thanks to the heavy curtains, keeping out the cold, which you have to part when you enter. But once you’re inside properly, you’ll find a tastefully decorated restaurant with a luxurious green theme that brings together the chairs, menus, napkins, and even a neon sign.
Run by the same team as the successful Lorentes restaurants, one next door in Darley Abbey and the other on Friar Gate, my expectations were high as I consider the food at the Spanish eateries to be among the best in Derby.
However, unlike many Italian restaurants these days, you won’t find pizza served here, which feels like a deliberate choice. Instead, there’s a menu reminiscent of genuine trattorias, split into sections for antipasti, starters, pasta, meat and fish, and so on.
You know you’re onto a winner when it’s hard to choose from so many enticing options, including steamed mussels with ‘nduja (£12), mushroom risotto (£18) and fillet of seabass with lobster (£30). It’s not a cheap restaurant and it sits closer to the Darleys end than Carluccio’s. But those looking for somewhere special for a Christmas meal are unlikely to be disappointed.
We order a bottle of sparkling water (£4.50) and my companion has a gin and tonic (£7.60), which arrives in a beautiful flat-bottomed glass containing a slice of burnt orange. The service is very good and we’re looked after by two waiters who also tend to another large table.
Crab arancini
At 2pm on a Sunday, it is a little quiet, but I know from trying to book a table here over the last couple of weeks that they are generally busy, with capacity for around 35 people at one time. For our starters, we chose the crab arancini (£8) and the rosemary focaccia (£4.50).
Sometimes it’s hard to taste the crab at restaurants due to skimping, but the arancini – a deep-fried ball of risotto – really has a fresh seafood taste, and the little capers inside are delightful. It’s served with a small amount of what I think is a garlic mayonnaise and it would have been nice to have a little more, but that’s hardly a complaint.
Rosemary focaccia at La Burrata
The focaccia has a wonderful texture, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the black olives it contains are a welcome touch. I know it is not considered proper to mix oil and balsamic in Italy, despite being popular here at home, which gives me the impression that La Burrata is not snobby, despite the obvious quality of what’s on offer.
Moving on to the main courses, I chose crab macaroni cheese (£19) while my fellow diner went for the seafood linguini (£20). We also ordered a side of grilled asparagus with anchovy butter (£8).
Crab macaroni cheese at La Burrata
The mac and cheese is another indication that this spot is not a gatekeeping, holier-than-thou Italian eatery as, if I’m not mistaken, I don’t think it would be considered “proper” by true Italian foodies. But it’s a cracking dish, if perhaps a little too rich for me as I came close to finishing it, and not something I have ever tried before. The light touch of mustard and the gruyere cheese, balanced by lemon, makes it pretty special.
When it comes to the seafood linguini, it couldn’t have been better. It isn’t a huge portion but my companion felt it was the perfect size. The mussels are excellent, the prawns very well prepared and the chilli not overpowering.
Like the arancini, it was obviously fresh, and the staff had no issue with our request to remove the clams. There was plenty left of the bread we had for a starter, so we nibbled at this along with our mains.
Grilled asparagus with anchovy butter at La Burrata
The asparagus with slightly salty anchovy butter was very tasty and, again, not something I had tried before, which is always a good thing in my book. I promised myself I would have to make it at home soon.
We did have to wait a rather long time between receiving the bill and getting the card machine to pay. I have never quite worked out what this is about, but it seems to happen everywhere I go. But we were not in a rush and the service was so good otherwise that we certainly wouldn’t have complained about it.
La Burrata’s decor is tied together with a luxurious green theme
Our meal at La Burrata was one of the best I’ve had in Derbyshire over the last year. They just seemed to get everything right. I couldn’t afford to eat there all the time, but I know I’ll be coming back for special occasions. One could easily make the case that this is one of the top restaurants in Derby just weeks after opening. Hats off to the team.
Dining and Cooking