Massimo

The Corinthia is a bobby-dazzler of a new five-star London hotel. The purchase of the site and its refurb cost £300 million plus: for nearly 300 rooms that's more than a million quid each.

For such splendour guests pay £400 and above per night, and get the run of a lavishly appointed joint with very attentive service - plus, of course, a cocktail bar and two very smart hotel restaurants.

Massimo's dining room is high-ceilinged and very swish - built to impress. David Collins Studio was hired to create the right effect, which uses both grand gestures such as massive chandeliers, a seafood bar and wine wall, and exquisite detailing such as stitched leather seats and other expensive furnishings.

The restaurant's name refers to Massimo Riccioli, head chef at La Rosetta in Rome. He was working here in 2011, but has since left - though for the time being, the restaurant retains his name.

Massimo's menu is expensive, beautifully cooked and presented, but presents few challenges. The need to play safe is a problem in many hotel restaurants, which charge top prices for essentially simple dishes.

Gnocchi, for example, was £15 of potato dumplings stained red with beetroot in a tomato sauce. An appealing dish of grilled octopus legs were wonderfully tender, but £14 is a lot to pay for a starter of this inexpensive seafood. Red mullet: a small piece, beautfully cooked, for £24. Pasta, £17. And so on.

All delightful, and all agreeable to a wide range of international guests. We couldn't fault Massimo on looks or cooking (though service showed an irksome tendency to upsell), but London has many very good and expensive Italian restaurants already, and with such a crowded market there are many equally good, and more affordable, alternatives for the discerning diner.

The British restaurant, Northall, has also just opened in the same hotel.