Probably
the 1st Pure Veg Italian restaurant in Chennai, Little Italy has
held ground for decades, inspite of others restaurants coming up in the same
zone. And now few months ago, they have opened a new outlet in Besant Nagar. It
is a nice big bungalow that has been remodeled and converted to a restaurant.
There is also an open space where candle lit dinners are organized. I have visited the Nungambakkam outlet twice, once just for the salad and other time was for dinner with friends.
The
small lane just ahead of Cascade in Besant Nagar is where you find this
restaurant. Go down that road and turn 1st left and you will be
standing in front of the restaurant. A small make shift well stands near the front
window with water pouring down a small bucket of sorts [could be a Feng Shui
thing], there is also a bench that one can sit and wait in. The interior is
quite nice, brick lined walls and subtle lighting and art work on the walls.
There are two banquet halls upstairs with a door that can shut off the
noise/music from that area.
We
were seated in the room on the right side, near the wall -nice cozy place. I loved
the fact that the table was not cluttered with spices, sauces and other condiments.
The evening began with a plate of their special Grande Nachos- lined with nacho
chips with vegetables, refried beans and cheese sauce it was served alongside salsa.
The nacho had a lovely bite to them, and was quite delicious. Following suit
were two different kinds of crostini/garlic bread- one was an assorted crostini
platter [aubergine& olives, zucchini, sun dried tomato & basil and
simple cheese] and the other was masala garlic bread.
The
bread was crunchy yet not hard, the toppings were all bursting with unique flavours.
My favorite was the one with sun dried tomato and basil. While we were talking
about these ingredients, our drinks arrived. It is almost like they had read my
mind as I was served a Berry drink made with kiwi, pomegranate and strawberries
while few others got the Princess, which was a pineapple & grape drink. It
was quite a tall thick drink that was filling as well. Once again, extra points
for not making the drinks too sweet.
Moving
on, we got to try their Salad that was just fresh, and had quite a range of
vegetables- lettuce, cucumber, avocado, olives, tomato, red capsicum, mozzarella
cheese and capers. What a delight it was!!
The
thin crust Pizza that came next was pretty good, simple vegetables, very little
cheese; the pizza was light and yumm. It also had broccoli and mushrooms on
it!!
We
were nearly full and so I requested that the main courses and desserts be
brought in smaller portions. We got to sample 3 kinds of pastas- Spaghetti with
pesto, penne with rich tomato sauce and then came ravioli stuffed with spinach
& cheese in a creamy tomato sauce. They were all good, but my pick would be
the pesto one maybe cos I love basil. How can we forget the Lasagna we tasted,
it was literal melt in your mouth kind of dish, though personally I wished the
vegetables had a bit of bite to them.
Just
when we thought we were done, in came two plates with very different looking
rice dishes. We were told one was the Mexican rice and the other was the
Italian Risotto. Good flavours and textures.
Yayy,
we knew all that was left to sample were there desserts. And boy where we in
for a treat, not one but three desserts came our way- Tiramisu, Chocolate bomb
[with vanilla ice cream] and finally the Pana cotta served with strawberry
sauce.
Burp!!
This is one restaurant that any vegetarian would love to visit and keep going
back for more.
An average cost for a meal for 2 would
work to Rs 800 –Rs 1000.
Little
Italy
E-50, 17th Cross Street,
[Behind Cascade & State Bank of Travancore]
Besant
Nagar, Chennai -600090
Ph- +91
89392 95000
Disclaimer:
The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember that restaurants and eat outs sometimes change with time, so does their food and service. So, kindly consider these factors while visiting the places. Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)
