Looking for Vegetarian food options near my place on Google, stumbled across this small Vegetarian/Vegan joint on Portobello Road. Given that this was a Saturday, headed out to try this place as well as to experience the Portobello Road Market.
We walked in at about 3:00 PM and saw this large spread of offerings from different cuisines. It is an order-your-meal kinda place where you pick anything you want from the offerings, in either small, medium, or large boxes. There is a small seating area in the store but that would cost you extra 60 pence.
We opted for the large box as we wanted to try a bit of everything, and this gave us more scope to do that. We asked for some lasagne, grilled mushrooms, beans, rice, vegetables, broccoli, a couple of other things I don’t remember, and loads of potato wedges.
The overall meal tasted good, but some of the items were a little too bland. I wish they had some kinda condiments and sauces to make things wild. The large box cost us about 10 quid, the medium is £8.95, and the small is for £7.2. I am not sure if these prices are justifiable, but for the variety, maybe it deserves a try once in a while.
Food: 8/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: N/A
Meal for 1: £9.95
After a fruitful day of celebrating Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we were looking for a place to quench our hunger. Felt like eating Indian (again), and decided to drop in at Saravana Bhavan at Leicester Square. There was waiting, and while we did that, I looked at their menu and realized that everything was overpriced (as we just dined at SB at East Ham a few days ago which wasn’t expensive at all). So looked for alternates in the area and found this small Indian eatery right around the corner.
A couple of blocks away from Empire Cinemas (Cineworld), located right next to Bella Italia, you’d probably miss this unless you look closely. Apna Adda is a small shop with just a couple of tables. Having realized that dining in will not be possible, we decided to do a take-away, and ordered a portion of Veg. Spring Rolls, Veg. Hakka Noodles, Kaju Curry, and a couple of Naan. I was told it would take about 30 minutes for the order to be ready.
We explored the Piccadilly Circus area for a while, picked up the food, and hopped on a bus home. Our lil one was hungry, so we opened the Spring Rolls on our way. 7 small rolls were served along with some sweet chilli sauce, and they tasted alright. They probably were frozen ones you get at a supermarket, which justifies the size and more or less bland taste.
We were really excited to try the noodles and didn’t waste any time dug in the moment we reached home (without clicking any pictures). Unfortunately, they turned out bleh. With excessive soy sauce, they had a strong taste which I did not enjoy.
The Kaju Curry however was yummy. Loaded with cashew nuts (Kaju), the tomato gravy was perfect. I would have maybe preferred it a little spicier though. The Naan was decent, but the corners were a little too thick.
Overall, an okay meal. Our Indo-Chinese experience was mediocre while Indian food turned out to be good. Reasonably priced, they have quite an extensive menu. I’d definitely try this place again, hopefully soon!
Food: 7.5/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: N/A
Meal for 3: £22.46
Meal: Dinner (Take 2)
On: Thursday, 7 July 2022
Dropped in here last week for dinner before a movie, and ordered a Vegetable Biryani. I then settled at a table on the street where there were quite a few entertaining performances to keep me engaged while the food was being prepared.
In about 10 minutes, the Biryani was served alongside some raita. This was dum-style Biryani with the curry at the bottom and rice on top, garnished with some coriander and fried onions. While the rice was perfect, I thought the curry was a bit on the spicy side, which made me sweat at the end of my meal. It may not be the best Biryani, but wasn’t bad either.
Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 1: £6.95
Place: Aladin Indian Restuarant Location: Brick Ln, London
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with wifey and our lil one)
On: Sunday, 26 June 2022
On a lazy Saturday afternoon, we were in the neighbourhood to get our Indian groceries but were hungry as well, so we decided to hog first. Brick Lane is a street full of Indian and Bangladeshi food joints, with people calling out to you while walking on the street to try their restaurants. This was pretty late in the day for lunch (around 4:00 PM), so most of these eateries were empty. Not wanting to be the only patrons, we decided to walk into a restaurant that had at least a few tables occupied, and this turned out to be Aladin.
Located right opposite Brick Lane’s Food market (Upmarket)which houses some international food stalls, Aladin is a sizeable joint spread across two shops and is pretty much on the busy street so can be loud at times. We were led to a table of 6 where 2 seats on either side were already occupied by a couple of girls, and we were like, what? Then the guy separated the table to make it a 4+2 seater with little gap between them. We settled down uncomfortably, for I felt that we were intruding into their space. Almost all the tables were similarly placed, cramped next to each other. On the bright side, the place was brightly lit and looked spacious, thanks to the mirrors on the walls.
The entire staff seemed to be in a hurry which gave it an impression of a fast-food joint rather than a dining restaurant. One of the many guys came with the menus, and without even giving us any breathing space. asked if we wanted papad. I said no without thought, and he removed the pre-set plates from the table. We eventually asked for the papad while placing our order, and he got the plates back along with some condiments
For the main course, we ordered Paneer Pasanda/Korma, a Butter Naan, a couple of chapathis, and a Vegetable Biryani.
The food was served all at once in about 15 minutes. While the Paneer Korma was decent; the gravy was little on the sweet side and could have been more refined.
The Naan was full of butter, soft, and tasted good.
The Biryani was served alongside some Mixed Vegetable Korma. The Biryani, while good, could have had more vegetables and little more masala (and salt) for it tasted bland without the korma, which in itself was alright.
Still hungry, for the portions weren’t that great, wifey decided to get a portion of Garlic Rice which was served in a few minutes. This had a lot of garlic, yes, but was dripping in oil. Again, needed salt.
Overall, an average meal. The food was decent but the experience wasn’t great. The hustle around us was getting too much to handle. To add to this, a scribbled note was presented to us as the bill for a whopping 40 quid, which I later, after stepping out of the restaurant, realized was at least 7 or 8 quid more than what we should have been charged for what we ordered (and if I read the scribble right, we were charged £2.5 for the papad!). This place is apparently voted as “One of the World’s Best Curry Houses'” in London, but I highly doubt they can be anything with this pathetic service.
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 4/10
Ambiance: 6/10
Meal for 3: £39.75
Place: Mumbai Dosa Location: Anna Bazaar, High Rd, Wembley
Cuisine: Indian & Chinese
Meal: Dinner (with wifey and our lil one)
On: Thursday, 9 June 2022
While we were craving some good food, we came across this small joint at the far end of a bazaar at Wembley, and boy, we were glad to find it. It’s a small setup with about 6 tables placed close to each other and the ambience isn’t appealing at all. However, the easy-on-the-pocket food tastes great, and so, we’ve been dropping by this place almost every time we’re in Wembley.
This time around, we came in at about 7:00 PM, before heading for a movie on a weekday, and while the joint was packed, we were able to find a table in the corner. This is more of a fast-food joint, so the tables are shabby and unclean, and this was the case today as well.
It’s a self-serve restaurant, so I walked up to the counter to order a Sweet Corn Soup, Crispy Baby-corn, Veg. Manchurian Fried Rice, and a Paneer Biryani. Do note that the lady at the counter might seem rude for she’s always multi-tasking, but she’s actually very sweet.
Given that the place was packed, it took long, longer than expected for the food to come. While we’d hoped for the Soup to come first, the Fried Rice was ready after about 20 minutes.
I tried their Manchurian Noodles a while ago which were decent, and was looking forward to tasting the fried rice. Full of vegetables and some chopped Manchurian balls, this turned out to be delicious and better than the noodles. It was spicy enough and reminded me of the bandi fried rice you get back home in India. For £7, the quantity is abundant unlike most of the recent restaurants I’ve been to. Yum!
The Paneer Biryani came next and this again was equally good. Loaded not just with paneer but also vegetables, the biryani was full of flavour. Wifey preferred this over the fried rice.
The Crispy Baby-corn tasted good. They were crispy, yes, but if not for the chaat masala sprinkled on top, were bland.
We were struggling to finish these three items and also running late for the movie, so requested for the soup to be packed. We also asked for a Fruit Salad with Ice-cream to go. While the Fruit Salad was decent, the soup was passable; it also had a lot of vegetables but was very thick and had too much soy sauce for my liking.
Overall, an excellent and sumptuous meal. The joint is badly maintained and needs an uplift, yes, but the food makes it up. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend or go to such shabby places myself, but for the tasty and bang-for-buck food, I overlooked the mediocre ambience. The taste and quantity of food are better than the Saravana Bhavan located two blocks away. Do give this place a try if you’re in the area; I’d suggest to go!
Food: 8.5/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: 4/10
Meal for 3: £20.50
Update: Saravana Bhavan Wembley has now been replaced by Arya Bhavan.
Here is the review for Saravana Bhavana at Rayners Lane, Harrow.
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Place: Saravana Bhavan Location: Ealing Rd, Wembley
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with wifey and our lil one)
On: Saturday, 4 June 2022
We dined at Saravana Bhavan at East Ham a few days ago and found the place affordable. A few days later, we wanted to check in at their Leicester Square branch, but to our surprise, everything was priced double or more. A North Indian Thali which cost us £8.95 at East Ham was about 19 bucks. Anywho, last week, we were at the Wembley branch, which was again affordable.
The place was packed at about 7:00 PM but we thankfully didn’t have to wait for a table and settled down next to the entrance. Without much delay, we ordered Channa Batura, a portion of Veg. Manchurian, Hakka Noodles, and Paneer Biryani.
In about 5 minutes, the Manchuria was served, and for a moment, I thought I was at the Saravana Bhavan in India which is known for its meagre quantity of food at exorbitant prices. For 7 quid, I’d expect more than 5 pieces of Manchuria. Thankfully, the taste was good, but I thought the sauce was too tomatoey.
Tha Channa Batura or Chole Batura, whatever you wanna call it was served soon. It was disappointing to see the Batura served flat for our lil one wanted to pop the big poori. While the Chole was decent, the Batura was dripping in oil.
The Noodles looked good and tasted good as well. I realized that the noodles you get here in the UK are generally thick (unlike the thin noodles you get in India). The texture is something I personally need to get used to.
The Biryani was served last and came with a portion of raita. With loads of paneer chunks and perfect amount of masala, this was the best dish of the meal. On the downside, a few vegetables in the Biryani would have been worth it.
Overall, a mediocre meal. While the Biryani was good, no dish made a real impression, and the dismal portion sizes didn’t make things better. While the service was decent, the overall ambience was passable. I’d probably try the Thali the next time around to see if they are worth multiple visits.
Food: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 7/10
Meal for 3: £28.54
Place: Flavors of India Location: Craven Road, Paddington
Cuisine: Indian
Meal: Dinner (with wifey and our lil one)
On: Sunday, 22 May 2022
We’ve been eating out in London for a while now, but this happens to be my first restaurant review (hopefully the first of many). After a fruitful day at Hyde Park, we were looking for some good Indian food and happened to find Flavors of India on Google. Located on Paddington Station Road, the restaurant is easy to locate with a Sardar figure standing guard.
We walked in at around 9:15 PM and the place, split across 2 floors, was more or less full. We walked up to the first level and settled down on a table for 4. The place, in general, was cramped for there was not a lot of room between tables. There was also a large group sitting behind us making the place loud. We were really hungry and were waiting for someone to come and take the order, but no one showed up for a long time, even after multiple attempts of calling for them.
When he finally did, we ordered a portion of Tandoori Stuffed Mushroom, Shahi Paneer, a Garlic Naan and a Plain Naan. This was around 9:30 PM. The steward did inform us that the kitchen was full of orders and it will take a while for the food to be served, but never mentioned how long. And so, the wait began.
Apparently, there was some problem with the air-conditioning on the first level, and even with the windows open, we were suffocating. Maybe it was because of the hunger as well. Anywho, we decided to come down (which was relatively cooler) and find a table for ourselves around 40 minutes after we placed the order (still no food).
At about 10:15 PM, the mushrooms were finally served, and I was appalled by the portion size; 3 small button mushrooms stuffed with some cheese, served along with a couple of peppers, onion, a tomato, and some lettuce. The taste was decent, but man, 3 pieces of mushroom?
Over the next few minutes, the Shahi Paneer and Naan were served. While not as bad as the mushrooms, the portion size of the paneer again seemed ridiculous for a main dish (I wonder what they serve for a side!). The paneer was fresh and succulent, and the gravy was good, but a little too tomatoey for my liking. The Naan however was hard as a rock. Our lil one usually eats the bread but she didn’t even touch it for it was so kadak. The Garlic Naan was better.
When the subzi and roti were served, I asked for a portion of Vegetable Biryani. The waiter said that it might take forever again, but we didn’t want to walk out hungry.
Surprisingly, the Biryani was served in a jiffy, and the portion size was decent. Served along with a Vegetable Korma, the biryani was very wet and spicy. I soon realized that the chef just added some pulao rice to the korma and sent it up as biryani (that confirms how it was served in a few minutes). The taste was okay, but as I said, too spicy.
Overall, a mediocre meal and experience. For the small portions which barely filled our tummies, the bill came to a whopping £31. The ambience isn’t great and the service was bad. There was absolutely no communication, and every time we asked where the food was, we were almost shushed. When we walked out, some travellers were inquiring about the place, and I told them the same thing which I now tell you, don’t go in there!
Food: 6/10
Service: 3/10
Ambiance: 6/10
Meal for 3: £30.96
My last review of McDonald’s was back in 2013, and I said I’m no longer lovin’ it. Since then, over the last 8 years or so, I haven’t dined or ordered from McD but for the one-off visit to get a McFloat. I’ve realized over the years that most of the fast-food chains are not worth it for they all serve something very different from what is advertised (read on to understand what I mean).
So come last week, I get a call from an agency in Mumbai who wanted me to try and review McD’s Maharaja Mac meal and McSpicy Paneer burger. I said yes, and the burgers were delivered last morning.
On most occasions, fast food like pizza or burgers are not packed properly which results in them becoming squishy by the time you take a bite (I recently had a pizza delivered in a very bad, almost inedible state). Thankfully though, McD ensured that this was not the case today for they ensured very good packaging. Everything was in its place, and care was taken to ensure that the fully cling-wrapped coke was kept away from the burgers.
As per their website, the Veg Maharaja Mac is supposed to be a Big Mac sesame seeds bun sandwiched with rich & crusty cheesy corn patty, topped with chunky vegetable-cocktail sauce served with pungent jalapeño slices, red onion slices, cheddar cheese slice & crisp iceberg lettuce. Sounds delicious right?
Now let us talk reality; the Veg Maharaja Mac was actually a Big Mac sesame seeds bun sandwiched with rich & crusty cheesy crunchy corn patty, topped with chunky vegetable-cocktail chipotle sauce served with (barely any) pungent jalapeño slices, red onion slices, cheddar cheese slice & lot of crisp wilted iceberg lettuce. It still doesn’t sound bad, but for someone who loves their cheese, not having the cheese slice or the cheesy patty is a big turn-off.
The burger was huge and it took effort to take a bite. It tasted good, the few jalapeños and onion slices added a nice flavor, and the corn patty was crunchy. It was quite a meal in itself, and I was struggling to finish it. I however missed the cheese!
The McSpicy Paneer, thankfully, was much simpler with creamy sauce and crispy lettuce, and of course the paneer patty. Everything was as it needed to be, again with the same chipotle sauce and the burger was alright. The lettuce however was almost bad and added a bitter after taste.
The Fries were standard, and Coke was, well, Coke 🙂
Overall, the burgers were decent but the lack of cheese in the Maharaja Mac and bad lettuce in the McSpicy Paneer were let off. I know every experience is different at McD (or even Burger King) and depends on the crew members working on the order, but they need to make sure and be stringent to ensure that the crew sticks to the recipe and does not miss steps.
Place: Gudgudee
Location: Madhapur Main Road
Cuisine: Indian & Chinese
Meal: Dinner (with amma, wifey and our lil one)
I’ve seen this place on my way to work and wondered who would name their restaurant Gudgudee (They even have a tagline – “Tickle Your Tastebuds“). But having read good reviews about them, decided to drop in last month to celebrate my mom’s birthday. But alas, they were closed, and we ended up eating at President Dhaba (which turned out to be a disastrous affair, but that’s a story for another day). Come last Saturday, they were open, and here we were.
We thought they might be empty walking in, but to our surprise, they were about at about 50% capacity. They have a huge place, and that means a lot. Brightly lit, with good views of the metro and the Hitech City main road, I was impressed with their overall ambience. Something I liked is their low seating towards the corners. We settled down somewhere in the middle.
Like with most of the other places, they had an online menu, which turned out to be a little different from the one I checked on Zomato. I was a little disappointed with this for I had more or less decided what I wanted to order, and some of these weren’t listed. Anyways, we started with Tomato Basil Soup and Shanghai Rolls, and for the main course, ordered Malai Kofta, a portion of Stuffed Paratha and Garlic Naan each, 4 Phulka, and Paneer Tikka Biryani.
The Tomato Basil Soup was served in about 10 minutes. It had a strong Basil flavor to it and was decent. The bread crumbs were served separately which ensured that they were crisp when we dropped them into the soup.
Shanghai Rolls happen to be one of my favorite starters, and the ones you get at Palace Heights are the benchmark for me. The ones served here were crispy and good but nowhere close. I would have preferred them to be a little more spicier.
While we were still enjoying the Shanghai Rolls, the main course was served.
I asked for a not-too-sweet Malai Kofta, and they obliged. With a couple of kofta balls made of paneer and khoya, the curry was creamy and yummy. The Stuffed Paratha, with a lot of butter on it, was soft and tasty. The Phulka, though wrapped in foil, turned out to be super kadak and almost inedible. We asked for a replacement, and they obliged with two out of the four (given that we already finished two). The winner of the roti basked however was the Garlic Naan. They were soft and had tons of garlic butter on them.
I was already stuffed with the Naan but managed to make some space for the Biryani. I’m glad I did for it turned out to be very good. With chunks of Paneer Tikka, the rice was well cooked, and the flavors were just perfect.
Overall, a good meal. But for the Phulka, we were happy with all the other dishes. I was also impressed with the portion sizes and thought the place offered value for money. Service-wise, most of the waiters were disoriented. Our lil one kept screaming “Bhaiya” to get their attention, but that didn’t help either. They definitely need to improve on this.
I’m gonna be back to try their Chinese offerings the next time around for their offering look tempting.
Place: The Coffee Cup Location: Sainikpuri Cuisine: Global Meal: Dinner (with friends, wifey and our lil one)
I’ve been wanting to visit Coffee Cup for ages now for I’ve heard some good things about this place. This never materialized thanks to the distance from the city. But come last Sunday, we were meeting a bunch of friends in the area, and finally, my visit came through. These guys have two setups on either side of the road, and both were packed when we dropped in at about 6:30 PM. We somehow managed to get a table for 6 in the outdoor seating area of, what I am told, the original café. It was sultry this evening, and we requested the staff to move us in as and when there was a table available.
Ambiance-wise, the place was okay. Given that we were sitting outside, we escaped the hustle and noise inside the café. We, as a group, were skeptical about whether safety protocols will be adhered to, not just here but at any place we visit. Thankfully, the staff was wearing masks, and there was a sanitizer on every table. We also had to scan a QR code stuck up on the wall to access the menu.
To start, we ordered a portion of Herbed infused folded bread, Veg. appetizer platter, the White House pizza along with a lot of coffee. The waiter suggested we opt for the Cheesy Garlic Bread instead of the Herbed bread, and we obliged.
The Garlic Bread was served in about 10 minutes, even before the coffee. Thanks to the pandemic, the four slices of bread topped with sumptuous amount of cheese, baked to perfection, were served on a disposable plate. Crunchy, with the right amount of cheese, we gulped them in a minute or so. We immediately ordered for another portion, but that never got served.
In a few moments, our coffees were served. We ordered one Café Frappe, three Devil’s White (frappe with whipped cream and chocolate sauce), a Dangerous Devils (frappe topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chocolate cake), and a Cinnamon Latte. We also asked for a fresh orange juice for our lil one, but they were out of oranges; we got a watermelon juice instead. All the frappes were creamy and chocolaty, and I loved mine (Devil’s White). I was told that the chocolate cake was yummy, and the latte was very good. We were very happy with all our coffees, but I thought the quantity served was less. For about 200 bucks, I’d expect more.
Next came the pizza. With a few olives and a couple of burnt garlic chunks, this pizza was delicious. It was perfectly flavored, super cheesy and the crust was perfect. A few more toppings, especially of that garlic, would have worked wonders.
The appetizer platter was served next with 3 pieces of fried cheese sticks, jalapeno poppers, spring rolls, and few fries (they replaced potato wedges with fries). We asked for a repeat right away as we knew this wouldn’t be sufficient for the table. The spring rolls were very mild and lacked the punch, fries were crispy and good, poppers and cheese sticks were practically the same, fried cheese with a little jalapeno flavor in the poppers. These were good on the first serving, cheesy, just the way I liked it. However, the ones on the repeat order lacked flavor and were very bland.
It was almost an hour and a half since we were sitting outside, and the weather was not helping us enjoy our food. So I paused for a while, went in, and looked for a table myself as the staff was not really bothered about moving us in. After about 15 minutes, and few requests, we conquered a table in a cozy corner on the first floor, right next to a bookshelf.
Our move-in didn’t feel welcomed as the waiter tending to our table was acting out of sorts. Anyways, a while later, we ordered a Four Cheese pizza, a Potato and Cheesy Croquette Sizzler, and a repeat order of frappes. I was told that the pasta here is good, but the sizzler was a little more tempting.
We were told that the sizzler would take time to be served, but in about 15 minutes, it was on our table (with barely any sizzle). I was surprised with what was on the plate – 3 potato croquettes, some sautéed vegetables, fries, and two small bowls of mushroom flavored sauce. That’s it? Isn’t there supposed to be some rice or noodles?
Apparently not. I look at the menu on my phone again, it said potato fries or rice. Given that I missed this, and thanks to our waiter who didn’t bother informing us, we ended up with a very dry sizzle-less sizzler. Both the croquettes and sauce were bland and tasteless. None of my friends even wanted to give it a try. The only saving graces were the sautéed vegetables and the fries. Disappointment.
At around the same time, the repeat of Devil’s White frappes landed on our table but without the whipped cream. Curious, we called for the waiter, and he then informed us that they were out of whipped cream, and so they added a scoop of ice cream. Before we could ask him why he didn’t inform us of this earlier, he disappeared.
In a while, our last order, the four cheese pizza was served. One would expect a good amount of cheese on the pizza, but to our surprise, this was napoleon sauce with a few dollops of mozzarella, cheddar, Emmental, and parmesan. The crust was soggy and all we could taste was the tomato sauce. Another disappointment.
So what started off as a good meal ended up being a mediocre one. On food front, some of the items were good, but what I realized is that they lacked consistency. The first batch of appetizers had flavor while the second batch were totally bland. Same with the coffee as well. And the mediocre sizzler and four cheese pizza didn’t help.
Apart from the food, the service once we moved inside was pathetic, and that kinda ruined the overall experience for me at least. It’s a nice place to hangout, yes, so I can understand why it’s so popular, but for me, not worth the hype. They were having an off day maybe?
Serafina is an international chain of Italian restaurants with more than 30 outlets in seven countries, and comes as a new addition to the already packed Italian gourmet space in Hyderabad. Located on the third level of the newly constructed SLN Terminus mall near Kondapur, the restaurant has perfect ambiance for a night with family or friends. I dropped in with wifey for a tasting session a couple of weeks ago, and we settled at a cozy table on the outdoor seating area overseeing the bustling Friday traffic.
Having just returned from a trip from Italy, their menu looked very familiar. There were a number of options to choose from, and the greedy foodie in me wanted to try a bit of everything. So we asked the on-floor manager to bring us small portions of their best offerings.
We were to start with a small portion of the tomato, basil and mozzarella antipasti and their D. Chopra salad, which I read is named as tribute to author Deepak Chopra who happens to be a regular at their NY outlet. While we were waiting for the traditional first course, the bread basket was placed on our table.
Served along with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar in a grape cruet, their breads very fresh and irresistibly soft. I gulped down three pieces even before I realized so.
The antipasti and insalate looked very appetizing. The mozzarella was fresh and went along with tomato and basil; and the D. Chopra salad which had mixed greens, pears, cherry tomatoes, corn, asparagus, and walnuts salad with lemon vinaigrette dressing was alright. As appetizing as it looked, these proved that I’m not a ghaas-phoos salad eating guy!
To go along with our meal, we ordered a Virgin Pina colada and an Orange Mojito. The Pina colada was creamy, coconutty and just perfect, and the Mojito was not bad either. Forget wine, these drinks kept us satisfied.
Ordering the main-course was the tricky part; all of their pizza’s seemed interesting, and I honestly wanted a piece of everything. We finally asked for the Al Porcini pizza, Tagliolini di Portofino and Lasagne. The Manager suggested we also try the Paglia e Fieno pasta, and we obliged.
They couldn’t do a small version of the pizza, so we got the full size one and it looked yum. The crust was perfectly baked, and the cream sauce was finger licking good. I would have preferred a little more flavouring; thankfully we had oregano and chilli flakes were at our disposal. Good stuff!
Next came the home-made Tagliolini in pesto sauce and this tasted equally delicious. The pesto sauce was strong and creamy, and the pine nuts added nice crunch.
The Lasagne was a little disappointing compared to the meal so far, for the sauce was too thin and there was too much eggplant. We couldn’t taste anything but for the eggplant, not even the cheese.
The recommended Fettuccine pasta didn’t really live up to our expectations either. It was a little too dry and not something I’d try again.
And then, it was time for the desserts; we asked for a Chocolate Mousse while the Manager recommended the Tiramisu.
The mousse turned out to be excellent; it was as good as it could get. Creamy, chocolaty yet subtle. The white chocolate wafer was yum. Toothsome!
Their Tiramisu came without liquor, and while it tasted alright, I wasn’t really happy for the mascarpone cheese didn’t really feel perfect. I’ve just tasted the best Tiramisu at its origins, that’s probably the reason why I couldn’t relish this so much.
Overall, a good meal with the pizza and the mousse being clear winners. They could add more variety to their starters for there wasn’t anything more than bread or cheese. While the authenticity is being maintained, I’m guessing not many folks would appreciate it for what finally matters along with the food taste is the pricing. While they are more or less spot-on on the taste front, the exorbitant pricing is something one needs to get used to (a single item on their menu could cost you thousand bucks!). Nevertheless, it definitely deserves a visit; perfect ambiance, courteous service and good food is what awaits you here.
The Paneer Biryani came next and this again was equally good. Loaded not just with paneer but also vegetables, the biryani was full of flavour. Wifey preferred this over the fried rice.
