A slice of little Italy

What do you expect to find in the middle of a large electronics store. Surely not a gourmet Italian restaurant. And yet, if you walk past the home theatre systems and cameras displayed at Croma in Malad and take the escalator to the first floor, you will hit a sprawling restaurant complex. And nestled in this bunch of eateries, a gem called Little Italy.

I've eaten at three separate branches of Little Italy in Mumbai (one of which is now closed). And all these places dish out authentic Italian fare with a consistency that amazes me. Their specialty is thin crust stone-baked pizzas and an assortment of pastas and risottos. My favorite is the pizza called Bombay. Its spicy and comes topped with paneer and mushrooms. Yet another favorite (and the one featured here) is spinach and ricotta ravioli in a hearty tomato, mushroom and wine sauce.

They do have a decent bar but somehow the drinks always disappoint. As do their desserts. Stick to pizzas and pastas, for that's what they do best, and that's what provides you a taste of Italy anytime you need it, right here in Bombay.

And by the way, this lovely picture comes courtesy a friend who came to see me from Pune last weekend. Or should I say, came from Pune to have dinner at Little Italy. Trust me, they are that good!

Comments

notyet100 said…

this looks delicious,..nice post..thnks for sharing..

May 28, 2008 at 1:51 PM

Swati Raman Garg said…

i completely agree... just being curious which one n olonger exists.. i used to love d juhu tara road one ...

May 28, 2008 at 4:13 PM

Anonymous said…

The juhu tara road one is still there.

But they closed down my favorite on Andheri Link Road (the one opposite Fame Adlabs). I used to love their first floor table by the window, with the linking road traffic flowing past

May 28, 2008 at 6:31 PM

Sangeeth said…

looks delicious....yummy

May 28, 2008 at 10:15 PM

I've found my perfect cookie

It's a bite sized cookie, with flavors of a pie, shape of a croissant and a pretty, pretty name. It's Rugelach. I first heard of this cookie when it became the baking pick for Tuesdays with Dorrie a couple of months back. The looks, the concept - everything was fascinating. And I've dreamed of making this cookie ever since. I ditched hundreds of recipes floating around and went straight to the master. It's Dorie Greenspan's recipe that I used, and ain't I glad I got it so perfect the very first time. So what's rugelach? It's cream-cheese pastry dough, rolled then cut into wedges, spread with jam and sugar and fillings of choice, rolled into crescents and baked. First the dough. Dorie did it in her processor, but I just went and did it by hand. Put 100 gms cream cheese and 100 gms butter out of the fridge until they were soft but still cold. Added both to a cup of plain flour (I omitted the salt because I use salted butter). Rubbed the flour and but...

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru...

Of Brun and Bun Maska

There is more to Bombay's breads than the pao that goes into pao bhaji and vada pao. There's Brun. and there's bun. We will get there. First, you have to get to know the city's Parsis. And Iranis, who are also Zoroastrians, but came to city a little later, in the late 19th or early 20th century. And when they came, they brought with them these little cafes that dot the city. I am no expert on Irani chai cafes. And I can't tell you whether Yazdani Bakery will provide you the best experience or Kyani's. But I can tell you a few things you need to ignore when you get there. Appearances don't matter; so ignore the fact that the marble/glass top tables and the wooden chairs look a bit dilapidated. Also ignore the rundown look the place sports. Instead, get yourself settled. And order a bun muska. This one's familiar to you as a first cousin of the soft hamburger bun. It's similar, but just a tad bit sweeter. Maska, of course, is the generous dollop o...

Bombay Foodie

Search This Blog