Tag: italian

  • Cafe Pascucci

    As Namma Metro construction turns MG Road into what seems like the aftermath of a Transformers All Spark brawl, and as pedestrians and motorists battle it out for control of the footpath, we decided to wake up and smell the coffee. Okay, there was a significant delay between the two, but Cafe Pascucci (part of an international chain) which opened shop right in the heart of the battlefield, between the HP petrol pump and Prasiddhi silks, (just before Brigade Road when coming from the Trinity Circle direction) was where we landed up on Saturday night. Parking? Don’t you get it? MG Road as you know it, is gone. So, try parking at Bangalore Central/Brigade Road and walk it up.

    So we stepped off the chaos and entered this lively cafe, which was almost full at 7.45. But we managed to get a decent table. The music was loud enough to drown the memories of the world outside, though the tracks were a few years old. The ambience is absolutely great, well lit, with comfortable seating, a great place to hang about, and if you get one of the two seating options facing MG Road, you can have a great time watching the world go by.

    For all you coffee lovers out there, there is a separate menu card only for that!! But before we get there, the food. Italian is the cuisine, and there’s a decent spread, if not elaborate. There are about half a dozen appetisers, ranging from Rs.45-65, both veg and non veg, with add on options of olives, cheese, chicken stuffing etc, for prices ranging from Rs. 15- 30. There are also an equal number of salads, but mostly veg, ranging from Rs 75-150.

    For the main course, you can choose from pasta – penne/fusilli (Rs. 75), and then add your choice of sauce (Rs.25), add a couple of extras from a choice of 8 for Rs.25 (mushroom, broccoli etc)  and chicken/smoked chicken sausage for Rs. 35. If this doesnt work for you, you could try a Gnocchi di spinaci, risotto (with veg/chicken add ons) or spaghetti, all of which range from rs.125 – 150. There are also sandwiches – you can choose your bread (regular or multi grain) at Rs.55/60, spread and fillings which are priced from Rs.20-40. You could also try out Piadine (an Italian bread).

    We chose to start with a Fresh herb crumbed chicken with cheese and paprika dip. The portion had six pieces, so quite good on the quantity front, but was a bit salty. The dip was just about good. For the main course, D ordered Spaghetti Meatballs, and I chose Fusilli with creamy sauce, mushrooms, parmesan and smoked chicken sausages. Both the dishes were very good, though the garlic bread they gave along with the dishes were too crusty. Though we had read in some reviews that the quantity was very less, we felt that, for the price, they were quite decent sized portions. We could be biased because they left enough space for dessert 😉 The only cause for complaint was that, in spite of specifically asking for the main course to be brought only after we finished the starter, all the 3 dishes were brought together. Thankfully, the main course stuff was really hot, so no real heartburn.

    And now, a preview of coffee heaven. A dozen different kinds of espresso, a similar number of capuccinos, half that number of hot chocolate versions, and soft drink/juices- including a bottled coffee soda, five kinds of filter coffee, from different parts of the globe, 13 kinds of iced coffee, ten kinds of teas, a dozen different ice cream combinations almost all of them operating in exquisite combinations of chocolate, coffee, whipped cream, chocolate sauce etc. You get the idea!! No, actually you can’t. Not until you see those photos, which I thought was sadistic, because whatever you choose, you will always miss the others that reached the final round!! After excruciating elimination rounds, I settled for an African Nera – made of chocolate ice cream, coffe ice cream, espresso coffee, dark crema confuso coffee cream, chcolate sauce and cremino chocolate. D chose a Yogurt Cappuccino fruit, made of gold espresso, light yogurt mousse, and fruit. My loud slurps towards the end were a testament to my deep appreciation.

    If you’re planning to go for lunch, they have a fixed menu combination – salad, pasta and dessert, at Rs.149 and 179 for veg and non veg respectively.

    Our meal cost us just below Rs.600, absolutely good value for money. The coffee menu and I look forward to meeting each other again, several times. 🙂

    Caffe Pascucci, United Mansions, 39, MG Road, Ph: 40912134

  • Via Milano

    ..and as part of our Italian/Continental weekend dinner festival, we thought we’d knock off Via Milano from the places in Koramangala we haven’t been to.

    Via Milano is just off the Sony World Junction, when coming from the Indiranagar side, take a left at the junction (after Lifestyle), and then take a U -turn, since this is on the same side as Sony. There’s valet parking, and i guess enough parking for 2 wheelers. Or you can be like us – park in Lifestyle, window shop a bit and then walk to Via Milano. 🙂

    Via Milano is on the 3rd floor, and would give a spectacular view of the Ring Road. I am guessing, because in spite of several pleas, they refused to give me window side seating, even the corner one occupied by Mrs and Mr.Invisible Man throughout our meal, since I believe they reserved it. The cynic in me (and the wife, no she’s not a cynic) claim its the tee+cargoes+unshaven look that puts me at the receiving end of such treatment. I don’t see why, if there’s no dress code, and I can pay.

    Anyway, the ambience is quite nice, and I liked the erotic female anatomy illustrations that they’ve hung on the walls. The staff is quite courteous. So they said no to my window seat request with a smiling face. Oh, okay, I shall try not to be mean. They did give us the welcome wet napkin and a bread basket. Thank You.

    They serve alcohol, and have an elaborate menu just for that. Though there seems to be a lot of starter options, there are only 2 soups. Since we preferred a thick one, we asked for a Crema di lenticchie, stracci di pasta integrale, olio d’ oliva all’ aroma di porcini. Haha, don’t worry they have an English explanation too, for us genteel desis. That’s green lentil soup (dont let me catch you muttering daal!!) with home made whole wheat pasta, olive oil, porcini, mushrooms. They also give you olive oil, chilli oil and one more ( i think balsam oil?) in ‘Borosil’ test tubes. Though i was reminded of my science lab experiences, i tried the chilly oil and it did add to the soup’s flavour.

    For the main course, there’s pasta, antipasta and pizza. Both of us decided to go for pasta. So I ordered a Tortelloni di pollo, funghi, crema, erba cipollina (chicken filled tortelloni, mushrooms, fresh cream and chives) and the wife ordered a Penne con sear fish, pomodoro, capperi, olive, melanzane, semi di finocchio alla siciliana (penne sicilian style with sear fish, tomato sauce, capers, black olives, eggplant and fennel seeds) The food was good, no qualms in admitting that. The slight sour cream and mushrooms in the chicken dish complement each other very well, the tortelloni is so soft it almost melts in your mouth. And it shattered the bland expectations I had, in a very nice way. The fish was also made well, and had a dominant tomato flavour, though it was not spicy.

    There were quite a few dessert and coffee options, but the window affair irritated me enough to skip it. In fact that was the single thing that spoiled the entire experience, and made us feel ‘cold’ towards the place. But you should drop in at least once, because the food is diferent, and tasty, it does ‘excite your senses’ (their tagline) and in spite of the ‘falling over each other service reserved for foreigners’ that i detest, the service is pleasant.

    All of the above cost us just less than Rs.1000, inclusive of tax. No mineral water included, since you can pick that up from Spar (Lifestyle). 🙂 A lil cheap, but I’ve had enough of being fleeced over a Rs.13 bottle of mineral water, all over Bangalore’s eating joints!!

    via Milano, No.607, Asha Plaza, 3rd floor, 80 ft Peripheral road, Koramangala, Bangalore – 560034 Ph. 41309997/4

    Menu and Photos at Zomato

  • Fresco’s

    Fresco’s gets very close to a chocaholic’s version of heaven, so we make up excuses to go there, even though its on Cunningham Road, and not so close to home. Its on Cunningham Road, within 100m of entering it, a couple of buildings after the Foodworld (?), and its not visible from the road. But there’s lots of parking available outside and some space inside too.

    Fresco’s is a semi-outdoor kind of space, quite cosy and is always buzzing during dinner time (at least weekends, when we go). And this time was no exception. So you might want to reserve before going. We didn’t and were asked to wait for a few minutes. Fair, but what was quite dumb was giving us a seating that was uncovered, especially when there were intermittent showers happening all through the day. So we asked for a different table. We should have taken this as a premonition. We didn’t, since we’d never been given any reason to complain from our previous visits.

    It took us quite sometime and a reminder to get hold of a menu card. And though it took a long while for our soup to be created, the Chicken and Coriander soup we ordered was excellent and succeeded in putting our fears to rest..to an extent. It comes a close second to the soup at Tangerine I’d written about earlier.

    For the main course, we ordered a couple of sizzlers, a Chicken Parmigiana and a Chicken Cordon Blue (Bleu, i thought ?), chose the latter by voting out a Parsi Chicken 🙂 We’d chosen the rice option for the former and pasta for the latter, and they succeded in reversing that. I got them to give us Rice for the Parmigiana, but didn’t insist on the pasta. I was too hungry!!

    The Parmigiana is chicken breast with herbs, crumb fried served with pomadoro sauce and Parmesan cheese grattinated. The wife says it tasted a bit like pizza, and was reasonably good. The Cordon blue  is chicken salami and cheese wrapped with chicken breast, grilled, and topped with mushroom and concasse. It was good in patches, burnt at some places, but perfectly well made in others. The rice was good too, wonder if the pasta would’ve been better. And both were sizzling hot, good for a rainy night if only they had been done well.

    The dessert choice here is always difficult, and there is always a lot of heartburn when we can’t test out new talent 🙂 We chose the Chocolate Demise, and as always didn’t have any reason to complain.

    The experience can be summed up best with the bill we got for all the above – Rs. 911. The service this time was extremely poor, and except for the soup and the dessert, the food was only reasonably good. I think a visit now would happen only when desserts warrant, and only for that.

    Hatworks Boulevard, 32, cunningham Road, Ph: 41327551/5