BackWeekday Lounge Exclusive | Eating Italian
Weekday Lounge Exclusive | Eating Italian
PremiumDon Giovanni, Mumbai
Don Giovanni, Mumbai
After the “Oh my god! Is it shutting down totally?" scare, Don Giovanni has opened at the Atria Mall, Worli. In a city with fine Italian restaurants such as Vetro, Celini and Trattoria, Don Giovanni, with its no-fuss, no-frills, just damn good homestyle cooking, remains a popular Italian eatery. But high rents in Juhu have driven the once stand-alone eatery to a mall in south Mumbai (as of now, the restaurant has got a three-month extension).
The décor has changed and the space is smaller. Also, I’m biased against mall eateries—the environment just doesn’t lend itself well to a serious restaurant.
Talk plastic
Appetizers are priced between Rs150 and Rs400. The pastas start at Rs300 and go up to Rs500 for non-vegetarian ones. The meat and fish courses go up to Rs650.
Azzurro, Gurgaon
I usually think it’s wise to ask for recommendations when I visit a restaurant for the first time. At Azzurro, DLF Phase I, my colleague and I followed this rule of thumb, but we surprisingly had more misses than hits. The restaurant, which has a branch in Saket, is famous for its pizzas, but our waiter made no mention of them. As a result, we blundered our way through the menu, choosing bland vegetarian dishes for the main course, though we were given the impression that the pasta we were ordering was non-vegetarian.
When we got to the main dishes, though, we were sharply disappointed. The Verdure Pepperoni (Mediterranean vegetables with caraway, yogurt, garlic and parsley rice) was ordinary. The pieces of broccoli were chopped way too large. The gnocchi with tomato sauce was, well, gnocchi with tomato sauce. We figured we chose the two least interesting main courses on the menu, but it wasn’t our fault—they were recommended. The saving grace was blueberry semi-freddo and fresh tiramisu.
The eatery, thankfully, is not located in a mall. The branch still has to get it liquor licence. It’s light lunch fare, but don’t expect a mind-blowing Mediterranean meal.
Talk plastic
Starters are priced between Rs185 and Rs375. The pizzas start at Rs250, pastas at Rs385 and the main courses at Rs350.
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