Little Italy @ Nungambakkam
Little Italy, is all-vegetarian, italian food restaurant. And it is located in the basement, of El-Dorado building on nungambakkam high road. The proper way is to drive from haddows road, and take left at nungambakkam high road junction (neat ABN AMRO) and take another immediate left to enter the el-dorado building.
Little Italy is not a new restaurant.. it is running for a couple of years in this place, and I believe many advees would have visited earlier.
The restaurant or the “ristorante:” as they call themselves is located in the basement. Upon entering you will be greeted by waitors. Tell them how many you are and they will guide you to the appropriate table. Their menu book starts with a short story of usual “italin food speciality.. and how we are special” and about the award of recognition from some italian official.
Turn the page next and you will see all greek and latin. Well i mean.. the typical continental confusion. All italian names. Gazed for a few more minutes and still we were hopeless. So we asked the captain to make some suggestions as we are visiting the italian cuisine for the first time. He suggested us, Passato Di Vedure Soup ( 1 / 2 servings) and Zuppa Di Asparagus Soup (1/2 servings). Then for starters he suggested “Funghi Alla Trapanese Starter”, a button mushroom starter. For main course he suggested “Alla Firritiana Pasta”, “Pasta Barbaresca”, “Pasta Del Fattore” and “Matriciana Pasta” for 4 of us. We said “OK! great !”.
While waiting for the soups, I evaluated the interiors. They are good, with a stream of english music flowing in. Perfect lighting (not dark.. not bright) and good seating. Air cooled and clean ambience. Ok thats for the interiors. Our 15 min chat stopped when they served the soup and starter. I got the asparagus soup, a creamy soup with onion and asparagaus bits. That was good in taste. My friend reported that the other soup was just average.
The mushroom starter was awesome! Believe me that was really great. some 12 mushroom heads cooked in olive oil and some european seasoning served with 3 dry breads. I liked it very much ! 
Funghi Alla Trapanese Starter was excellent. It was boiled properly (no typical mushroon smell) and seasoning was great.
Then came the main courses. Two main courses were tomato based and used Penne pasta. Third one is Fusilli and the fourth one is cochiglie i guess. The fusilli and cochiglie are dominated by cheese and other two are dominated by tomato. The tastes were good. But unfortunately, no one was able to consume a complete main course. Almost 20% of the main course was left and it was a waste. If there was only two main courses shared with 4 of us, then its a good meal.
So my suggestion is when you order pasta.. remember it is heavy. Heavy on diet. So, if you are 4 members order only one pasta.. then go for some others like spaghetti or ribbons. I should partly blame the waitor who suggested us 4 pasta’s. Either he has taken advantage of our first-time visit, or he is not good in helping the customers. He could have suggested that 2 pasta’s are enough for 4 of us and encouraged us to try some spaghetti or something else.
Except for that part, the whole experience is good. But, I must admit, that the restaurant owners.. who spend more money and more effort in interiors, exteriors, appointing good-looking nepali/assamese babes as waitresses, never think about giving a proper food-guidance to the first time visitors. They should educate their work force in that front too.
Food is priced on the higher side.. a soup costs more than Rs.100 and main course costs Rs.275 minimum. Little Italy offers a rich experience for premium customers. Consider Little Italy for rare occasions like a dinner with your special ones, or a corporate celebration etc.
Conclusion : Little Italy is a premium restaurant that offers good food. If you are new to italian food, inform the captain or the manager and ask him to guide you properly.
Rating : 3.5 / 5