Ristorante Amici

Good authentic Italian restaurant in the heart of the Hansaallee.
They have great pastas with seasonal products - the service is slow and a bit perfunctory.
It gets very packed during lunchtime so during the week it's preferable to book in advance.

I went to Amici last night with friends, having heard it was a) delicious and b) right by the cinema, so perfect for a pre-moving dinner.

The interior of Amici is fantastic. Some of the reviews mention it's a little "old-school", but I love it. I find that many Düsseldorf restaurants look the same, but I prefer the old-style look to Ikea. The restaurant is big, but not massive. We had a 6:30 reservation and by 7 the place was completely full. We were seated on time and the waiters were lovely and funny.

The food? About average. It's pretty expensive and I wasn't ready to shell out 26 euro for an entree, so I got a pasta: the scampi risotto. The shrimp was delicious, but there were only three. The risotto was perfectly cooked, but flavorless. I ended up adding a lot of salt to mine, which usually isn't my MO.

My friends also got pasta dishes - one got the linguini with mushrooms, the other a mushroom risotto. Neither friend was blown away either.

Based on the reviews it seems like their fish is pretty good, so maybe I made a mistake ordering pasta. Regardless, I probably won't be back.

Always worth a visit. Lunch menu is small but very tasty. Try the dessert sampler .. this is always a great pleasure. Waiters are sometimes slow or not so friendly.