Il Re della Busa can be found inside the idyllic Lido Palace hotel, situated in Riva del Garda, Italy. It’s here that you’ll find Executive Chef Giuseppe Sestisto, working his magic with his team in the kitchen. Michelin star awarded, Sestito previously spent five years of his career as Executive Chef at The Hyde Park in London. Now, Sestito specialises in Italian cuisine, and certainly excels at his fish dishes; of which he sources locally and prepares from both sea and lake.
During our visit, we were delighted by the restaurant itself, which showcases the beautiful lake by which the restaurant sits. With stunning views, the restaurant’s location certainly sets the tone for a wonderful atmosphere - of which it delivers.
“This is fresh food, prepared perfectly.”
We were greeted by friendly waiting staff, and were delighted by the menu. We chose a bottle of the Alto Adige Volgar, Sauvignon Blanc, 2010, which we enjoyed whilst people watching and waiting for our starters to arrive.
To start, we opted for the homemade Fusilli with aubergines, lobster, and bottarga; and the vegetable soup with herbs and barley. The flavours were exquisite, with the homemade pasta being a real highlight. We were suitably impressed and awaited our main courses with baited breath.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before we were tucking into them! For our main courses, we chose the beautifully prepared and presented grilled sea bass with broccoli, carrots and potatoes; as well as the peppered beef fillet with sweet and sour radish. Again, the exceptional flavour combinations blew us away; this is fresh food, prepared perfectly.
We couldn’t resist dessert, and thus, tried the fruit salad with vanilla ice cream, and the espresso coffee, again, with vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was as delicious as we’d hoped, and we left extremely satisfied with our meal.
We would certainly recommend Il Re della Busa to anyone who’s lucky enough to be visiting that part of the world. Both the food and the setting are very impressive. We would certainly return.