Celini, Santa Cruz, Mumbai

Celini at Grand Hyatt is rated as one of the best Italian food experiences in Mumbai by Rashmi Uday Singh's Times food guide, and after our last visit I would tend to give a big Thumbs up to the place and her recommendation. The food was exceptional and undoubtedly one of the best Italian food experiences I have had in Mumbai.

The restaurant in advertised by the Hyatt as serving Italian food in a modern setting, the ambiance was supposed to be a big draw with a show kitchen aiding the food experience. However we found to our disappointment that the restaurant was closed for repairs and we would have to be seated at the bar. Although the seating was comfortable, it was a disappointment as we were not made aware of the situation when we were making the appointment. I hope that the ambiance will reflect the food when the repairs have been completed.

The service as is expected in a 5 Star was attentive and prompt, the slight downer was the fact that our plates had some dirt when our second course was about to be served, I would like to believe that the same was a result of the make shift seating but dirt on the plate is definitely not the expectation from the Hyatt.

We ordered a 3 course meal at Celini, and I would like to say that we were served two exceptional dishes and one which was very very good. We ordered the spicy white bean soup with lobster and carpaccio, a risotto with asparagus, lobster and speck (pork) and capped it with a Tiramisu to finish. As we were waiting we were served freshly baked bread and a salsa with a generous amount of tomato and olives. The bread was fresh and very good to taste, went well with the salsa. We were slightly disappointed though when we saw that we had only olive oil to season with at the table. The balsamic vinegar which i personally love was missing and was given only on request.

The spicy white bean soup when it arrived however more than made up for the slightly disappointing experience till then. The soup was effectively a broth of pureed white beans with generous helping of cheese and lobster essence. The texture was very thick, smooth and creamy. It smelt and tasted heavenly. The middle of the bowl had the spicy carpaccio and the lobster pieces. The carpaccio was great but the lobster took our breath away. It was cooked perfectly with a delightful crunchy texture which was an excellent complement to the thickish broth.

The risotto followed which was very good without being exceptional. It was slightly a bit too salty for my palate than what it may be should have been. The Tiramisu was too die for, soft and replete with the flavours that you expect, if I were to pick a slight fault it would have to be the bread layer which was not soaked as much as it maybe could have been. It tasted great but it was not dripping in coffee and chocolate.

Overall Celini was a grand culinary experience which can be bettered by ironing out the glitches mentioned. A definite recommendation for the outstanding Italian cuisine.

A meal for two at Celini without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 3000/-

How to get there: The Grand Hyatt hotel is almost on the Western Express Highway between Andheri and Bandra. You have to not take the Kalina fly over and take the first left after the Kalina crossing. Grand Hyatt's gate should be visible to you on the left after driving for another 200m after you take the left from the highway.

Casa Toscana, Chowringhee, Kolkata

Casa Toscana is a relatively recent addition to Kolkata's food supermarket and in a relatively short period of time has been able to create its niche in the fine dining options the city offers. The same is with good reason and not by accident.
Casa Toscana, has two seating areas, one outdoor and the other indoors. The seating is comfortable, yet exuding a casual homely ambiance allowing one to settle down and enjoy decently authentic Italian cuisine. The place is obviously run professionally and the service is prompt and polite. The waiters are well dressed, smart and try to go the extra way to help the customers.
The food that we sampled was good without being spectacular. The standard Olive Oil and Vinegar combination is there on each table, however they serve complimentary bread sticks instead of bread at the table. The bread sticks although individually tasty do not go well with the Olive Oil and Vinegar and I really think bread would work better. After a round of prawn and chicken starters which were all very tasty, we went on to the main course. Being a large group we had ordered quite a spread and we sampled The Mushroom Risotto, Spaghetti Bolgnese, Meat Lasagna and a Pepperoni Pizza. If I had to pick one dish out of the lot as the best it would have to be the Pepperoni Pizza - outstanding and ranking amongst the best Pizzas I have ever tasted.
However, that does not say much for the remaining dishes which were decent, (especially the Spaghetti Bolognese), but lacked that extra something. I am sorry to say this but Mumbai has far better Italian fare. The desserts were however better and they served a very good tiramisu and shortcake.
Overall, Casa Toscana serves as a good option if you fancy some Italian food in Kolkata. Great variety for Kolkatans I guess, but do not waste a meal if you are visiting the city for a short period. There are a lot better culinary options in the City of Joy.
A meal for two at Casa Toscana without drinks will cost you approximately Rs 1400/-
How to get there: Casa Toscana is at Chowringhee Square in Kolkata, just opposite the Nehru childrens museum.

Mia Cucina, Andheri West

Mia Cucina came with a reputation. In the times food guide that I have Rashmi Uday Singh had rated the food as the best Italian restaurant in Mumbai. I tend to agree partially with her and would rate the restaurant at par with Don Giovannis as the place to sample Italian food in Mumbai. Mia Cucina, "My Kitchen" is a high end Italian restaurant which has just opened in Versova. The place is chic and the decor very classy and very Italian. I loved the picture of Marlon Brando as the Godfather at the entrance and was pleased to see that the place had both outdoor and indoor seating options. The tables were long with a wood finish, the interiors were well lit without being too bright and the walls had a brick finish adding to the overall feel of the place. Mia Cucina is also a favorite with the film/ TV Serial crowd of Suburbian Mumbai and we spotted Arshad Warsi, Maria Goretti and Anchal Kumar in the time that we were there on a Saturday night.
We ordered quite a spread at Mia Cucina, the food at Mia Cucina as we found is served not as full plates but as smaller bowls from which you can share which was a departure from the regular high end Italian restaurants which I think is great as you can taste a larger number of dishes without awkwardly transferring food from largish place. The other slight difference that we noted was the fact that the restaurant accommodates slight changes in the ingredients of the preparations. If you want your favorite ingredient added to a particular dish and it makes sense, the chefs comply to your request.
At Mia Cucina we tasted Lasagna Al Forno, a lasagna made with a mince mix of beef and pork, a really nice taste though I felt that the cheese was slightly on the lighter side, Risotto al pollo - a risotto made with chicken and mushrooms which was good without being really brilliant. We also sampled a bit of grilled Rawas which was also very tasty and had a lot of herb flavour going well with the fish - again very good quality. The undoubted highlight of the meal however was the tagliatelle pasta with mascarpone cheese and spinach. My sister had the brainwave of adding chorizo or pork sausages to the preparation and it tasted absolutely fantastic. The spinach, cheese and the pork was a truly outstanding combination which must be tried and will be definitely repeated in my next visit. As is the case at most high quality Italian restaurants, leaving space for dessert is a must and we sampled the cheesecake, the tiramisu and a chocolate pastry all of which were of the highest standards as far as taste goes. Do go to Mia Cucina for outstanding Italian food!
A meal for two at Mia Cucina would cost you approximately Rs 1300 without drinks.
How to get there: Mia Cucina is on the main Versova road. If you are coming from the station side. You have to keep driving down the road past Indian Oil Nagar and straight past where the old Versova bus stop used to be. You have to drive straight as the road bends left from the bus stop and then goes straight before turning left again before taking a half u-turn towards the right. Mia Cucina will fall towards your left just after you take the half u-turn.

Casa Mia, R-City, Ghatkopar

There is a lot to like about Casa Mia, the Italian restaurant in R-City mall in Ghatkopar. The decor is very friendly and exudes a very casual cafe-ish feel differing from the usual high and mighty ambiance at most Italian restaurants in the city. The place is however authentically Italian with an Italian owner and manager, and has a whole host of photos from the country on one of the walls. The restaurant tries to be slightly different and cool and largely succeeds through a number of special touches. The kitchen is semi open with chefs visibly posted at separate stations and whipping up salads, antipasti and main course. The restaurant has something special happening on all week days, we had gone on a Friday and there was a live band playing. We saw that each day had some special offer such as 50% off for Indian wines etc. The coolest part that I liked about the restaurant was the piece of paper on the table which substitutes as a table mat. All the mats had interesting Italian quotes spelt in English which were to do with food and Italians. A nice touch, and enables you to say something in Italian before digging in to the food.
The last time I was at Casa Mia I ordered the Lasagna Toscana (a chicken lasagna) as the main course and tasted a bit of the (funghi di bosco) a mushroom risotto, and a vegetarian thin crust pizza (pizza verdure). We also ordered two interesting dessert preparations, the salame al cioccolato which roughly translates into chocolate salami, a very interesting preparation of dark chocolate cake made in the shape of small salami strips and served with some cream on the side. Great taste but I felt that the Salami strips were a bit on the hard side. We also ordered a Tortino which was supposed to be a chocolate cake with an interior of gooey chocolate sauce which was there but not in adequate quantity. The proportion of cake was on the higher side. Overall a more than decent dining option, all the dishes were very tasty but I would not rate any of the preparations as truly outstanding. Overall a good meal and definitely a recommended dining option if you are already at R-City but I would not recommend you to go all the way to R-City Mall just to sample Casa Mia cuisine. Oh! one last word, on the day we went the surprise in the form of a live band turned out to be an unpleasant one. The band was really bad and I am sure that John Lennon and George Harrison turned over in their graves at a few of their renditions. Hope the live band is changed asap.
A meal for two at Casa Mia without drinks would cost you approximately Rs 1200/-
How to get there: Casa Mia is on the top floor of R-City Mall. The Mall itself is located on LBS Marg and is impossible to miss.

Cafe Mangii, Powai

Cafe Mangii has decided to spread; joyously and smartly they have moved to address Powai's need of a really classy fine dining Italian Restaurant. I am sorry but I do not think Spaghetti Kitchen is worth your hard earned penny. If you have been to the groups other outlets in Juhu and Bandra, you will know what to expect and the food and the experience both lived up to the decently high standards.
The decor is very much like the Juhu outlet of Mangii Ferra. Bright lights adorn the trees outside making the restaurant very difficult to miss. They have used the rather wide footpaths very uniquely to set up a couple of tables where people can sit and presumably eat if it isn't too hot/ raining. That kind of weather may bless Mumbai only for two months but it is a nice touch and gives the classy yet casual bistro-ish European look to the restaurant. The set up indoors is also quite nice. They have two types of seating - sofas on the side and 4-seater tables with nice high chairs on the main floor. The waiters are also neatly uniformed and very polite and attentive.
We had a pretty long leisurely dinner at Cafe Mangii. We had two starters, one was a mushroom stuffed with cottage cheese and something that I usually associate with Konkan food - Butter Garlic Prawns. The mushrooms stuffed with cottage cheese was okay, I thought it tasted more Indian than Italian. The Butter Garlic Prawns were however outstanding. The influence of butter relative to the garlic on the taste was far more significant than the Konkan namesake. The dish was also on the sweeter side giving a really delightful taste to the dish. We also ordered some garlic bread which we soaked up with some olive oil. This was one area where I was slightly disappointed as usually in these high class Italian joints the bread is complimentary.
For main course I ordered was Beef Lasagne, the others at the table ordered Lavender Steaks and Chicken Mangii. I was slightly disappointed with the Lasagne at Cafe Mangi as I thought that it was slightly light on the tomato based meat sauce which I absolutely adore. The Lasagne was also slightly crunchy with something resembling a carrot interspersed with the meat. My friends however absolutely raved about the courses that they had selected. Their feedback and the Butter Garlic Prawns makes me give Cafe Mangii the benefit of the doubt. I will go there again, but I will not order the Lasagne.
A meal for two at Cafe Mangii will cost you approximately Rs 1600/- without drinks.
How to get there: Cafe Mangii is in Hiranandani Gardens right beside the Fab India. If you are not familiar with Powai you will need to start from Haiko and drive towards the KFC. TO get to KFC you will have to take a left at the circle. Take the left and go straight past the KFC. You will soon come to a T junction where you will have to take a right. Take the first left after the right and go straight down the road which curves to the right. Cafe Mangii is the last shop before you hit JVLR.

Cafe Indigo, Andheri West

We went to Indigo Cafe on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it seemed just the right place. Although slightly difficult to locate the place is nice and welcoming. There are two different seating areas - firstly semis outdoors with the sides and top covered by opaque glass. The area was nice and sunny and we sat there. There was also an indoors option which we could peer through at through the glass partition. The feel is very casual and is typically suburban Mumbai. People seem to be casually chatting all around and everyone seems very comfortable. As is the case with most cafe's the menu is not really a large one but what they make, they seem to make decently well. I had the fillet beef steak which was recommended as being one of the best in Mumbai and the same did not disappoint. Great sauce and great mash potatoes. The quality of meat was inferior to what I had in South Africa but that is a wholly unfair comparison! The others at the table ordered Pasta - ok and Pork ribs which was served in humungous quantity. We also sampled some of their blackberry cheese cake for dessert which was quite nice. I would rate the food to be better that Salt Water Cafe but not as good as a mainstream restaurant. A great place to go during the day but I personally would prefer Salt Water Cafe by night.
One sour point - They forgot that we ordered a starter, having mixed the order up with one at another table and that is really bad.

A meal for two, without drinks at Cafe Indigo would cost you approximatley Rs 1400/-
How to get there: Cafe Indigo is on Vastu Heights lane in Lokhandwala. You need to drive towards Lokhandwala from Cinemax Andheri West. Go straight ahead past the Lohkandwala market. Do not enter the Lokhandwala Market. At the circle turn left. Do not take the first left - which is the Oh Calcutta left. Take the lane after the Oh Calcutta left, also on your left. You will see a signboard pointing towards the Vaastu Heights building and indicating the Vaastu Heights lane. Just drive along the road. Cafe Indigo will fall towards your left.

Salt Water Cafe, Bandra

Salt Water Cafe Bandra is well...very very Bandra...atleast for the common suburban Mumbai resident. Chic interiors, casual decor, uncovered wooden benches and tables which I have seen to be a common feature in most Bandra restaurants and of course the upmarket, trendy crowd creating a rather casual, typically Bandra ambience.
The food is good without being really memorable which is fine really as the food is not the prime reason for going to Salt Water Cafe. Salt Water Cafe lives up to the promise of giving you the right ambience for an evening out with friends. We were a largish group of eleven people and were able to sample a decent variety of the fare. The Cafe has a set menu with not too many food options. The wine list easily outdoes the food menu. There was a decent vegetarian population among us and we had a lot of veg food on the table, both starters and main course. The highlight of the starters was the Feta Cheese with Olives and the Sea Food Crab Cakes. The cheese is served in a smallish jar and is really nice - it serves as a great accompaniment to your drink. The crab cakes were pretty tasty even though the quantity served was pretty small. For mains we had ordered among us Risottos, Pasta and servings of Salmon. I ordered a serving of salmon which was good but the quantity was too small to act as a main course. Luckily for me the risottos were actually too much for a single person and I could have my fill. The risottos were a little bit too creamy and cheesy for my liking. I also sampled some traditional pasta with tomatoes and olives, which my vegetarian friend claimed to be the best amongst Italian joints in Mumbai but I cannot corroborate that as I did not want to have seconds. While the vegetarians are a rather under privileged lot - I am sure they can do better.:)
I just realised that the blog has been rather harsh but seriously the food is fine. It is just not a patch on the Italian cuisine you get in other places in Mumbai. So do go to Salt Water Cafe. Go there to have reasonable food in a great ambience. Go there with lots of good company. Go there to get some typically Bandra eye - candy. The only sour point in terms of ambience was that our table was close to the door and due to the crowd, it was getting slightly hot, but I guess were just slightly unlucky.
A meal for two at Salt Water Cafe without drinks will cost you Rs 2000/-
How to get there: If you are coming from the eastern suburbs, take the Western Express highway and use the Lilavati Hospital exit. Go right around the hospital and keep following the road. You will see a natural right which the cars going towards Bandra take. The Salt Water Cafe will fall on your left soon enough.

Don Giovanni, Juhu

The same upmarket hotel which has forced the relocation of Bistro Grill has also forced the relocation of Don Giovanni in Juhu. Though in this case, paradise has not been lost as the food remains as good as it ever was. I say that with a pinch of salt as their signature dish - the Risotto - a - la - Don Giovanni, an outstanding preparation of a cheese, and bacon risotto with a dash of vodka has lost the mind blowing quality that it had the first time. But I would attribute that to the high expectation that we place of the dish.
Don Giovanni has moved from opposite the JW Marriott hotel to the lane on which Prithvi theatre is located. It is on a semi complex on the left, you have to to drive in a bit before the valet parking gets into action. The interiors are quite large and seating 50 plus people comfortably does not seem to be an issue. We sat on a table near the bar, there are two other sections in the restaurant. The decor is apt, paintings adorn the walls and there is far more space than at the previous outlet. The only thing I missed was the Azzuri football shirt, present at the previous outlet which I could not locate here. Music, I presume Italian is played at just the right volume which provides a perfect ambience for a great lunch/ dinner. I have made several visits to Don G's in Mumbai but to my mind three dishes stand out.
1) The Risotto - a - la - Don Giovanni : When you put cheese, vodka, bacon and arborio rice in just the right combination you come up with this dish that causes me to salivate as I am writing this. The risotto is the best I have ever had, although they have increased the size of the bacon pieces which according to me does not taste as good as it used to the smaller pieces of crispy bacon.
2) Chicken Involtini - The Involtini is an outstanding starter of chicken stuffed with Mozzarella cheese. The cheese is folded into chicken breasts which are supported by a toothpick and then cooked. The cheese is just right and tastes brilliant when the dish is served. The only tricky part of the preparation is dealing with the tooth pick elegantly which is sometimes difficult to execute.
3) Lasagna - I tasted the chicken lasagna at Don Gs and it was exceptional. I can only imagine how good the beef lasagna must be. It is not too crisp as is the case in certain restaurants. It is just hard enough for the multiple layers of pasta, tomato, cheese and meat to stick together in perfect proportion
These are the top three dishes but it would be a great injustice to not talk about the Tiramisu and the coffee. Problem is that it would be difficult to fit both into the menu in the same meal. Both are outstanding, I urge you to go twice, or better still before the meal have a chat over some coffee and end with the Tiramisu. Only thing, you have to pre-book the Tiramisu as it runs out very quickly. So coffee for a pre meal conversation, Chicken Involtini for starters, if there are two of you order the Lasagna and the Risotto ala Don Giovanni, and end with the heavenly Tiramisu. You will fall in love with Italy right in the heart of Mumbai.
Good Italian food does not come cheap and a meal for two, with starters and dessert but without drinks at Don Giovanni will cost you Rs 2500/-
How to get there: Don Giovanni is in Juhu, at the signal between Juhu and Andheri, instead of proceeding on Juhu Tara Road toward JW Marriot. Turn right at the signal to go toward Prithvi, there will be a semi market complex on your left. Don Giovanni is one of the many restaurants/ shops. It is visible from the outside.