This few weeks has
been Italian marathon for me, tasting the classics to getting awed by the uniqueness
to lip-smacking pastas to few disappointments as well.
Few days back I was
invited by Dineout to ‘Lido’ Hyatt to enjoy the authentic flavors of Umbria and
Tuscany with their on-going Italian food festival ‘Italiano’. Well, if
you ask me how was the experience.. I would say it was good. Was it ‘wow’? No
it wasn’t.
Let’s get started
by talking about the menu that was set for the evening by Chef Manish Sharma.
The first up was ‘Caprse Crotini and
Crostini Alla norcina’ (Anchovies, truffles and chicken liver on crispy
bread grilled artichokes, sweet peppers and pickled bocconcini). Well, chicken
liver is something I love from core of my heart and this was something
absolutely brilliant, just the way I like. It was perfectly cooked, wasn’t
soggy at all and that dark brown colour, ahh! too good. It was succulent and
absolutely lip-smacking.
Next up was ‘Assortment of
Insalata Asparagi, Calamari Fritti and Prawn Stuffed Ravioli’. There
were three different things on the plate with so many elements complimenting
each other. Talking about the batter fried squids, it was better than what I
have had so far. What really worked is it was easily chewable and the crisp batter
makes it taste even better.
Talking about the warm
asparagus salad with sautéed potato, I didn’t really enjoy it. There is so much
you can do with a potato but here the asparagus alone didn’t create any magic.
And the Prawn
Stuffed Ravioli was good but nothing extraordinary, the same common taste. Yes,
it is good to stick to basics but there has to be some uniqueness being offered
to the food aficionados.
Next up on the
table was something that really took me by surprise. Why? Because Chef Manish told
us that next up is gonna be zuppa (soup). And what presented on table was so
pleasing to eyes. Soup in a bowl? How about sipping the soup in saltless round
bread? It was called ‘Pappa al Pomodorro’.
Well there is
proverb – don’t judge a book by its cover and in this case don’t judge a food
by how brilliant it looks. My first expression was ‘wow’, I remove the ‘bread lid’
and I was like whatttt??? I am sorry but this cannot be a soup. It was
completely dried up looking like a thick puree of tomato stored in something.
Chef Manish told us
that the bread absorbs the liquid very quickly making it dry. He tried fixing
it by pouring some liquid over it still this was nowhere near to good. Full
marks to chef for thinking something out of the box but did it pay off? No
it didn’t, it back fired. I think Chef should be aware of the fact that bread
absorbs the liquid quickly; he looked more surprised than us.
Coming to the main
course, we were served ‘Fantasia of Pappatrdelle Con Leper, Gnocchi Ignudi and Spigola
Alla Livornaese’. Again, everything on the plate was so damn
eye-pleasing, just beautiful. Taking about the taste, let’s start with Gnocchi made
of spinach, eggs and ricotta. This is a speciality of both Umbria and Tuscany
and after taking a bite you understand why. This combination of spinach, eggs
and ricotta is just brilliant, definitely a must try here.
Talking next about
Sea bass cooked in garlic, tomatoes, onions, and parsley. Ok, let me be
honest.. this was lip-smacking. Coming from Bengal, I have a soft corner for
fish and this boy did not disappoint me. Just look at the different colour
variations of fish skin from top to bottom, from dark brown to light of the
fish.. just brilliant.
Lastly, talking
about the broad ribbons of pasta, served with a meaty sauce of rabbit, bacon
and cloves. I have tried rabbit meat quite a few times and have really enjoyed
it. Yes, rabbit meat is not very soft but here it was more than it should be,
making it chewy.
It was time to
conclude the meal on a sweet ending and what better than ‘Melange of
Chocolate Salami and Castagnaccio’ to put a smile on our face. Ahh! the chocolate salami was so so good. Why salami? Because it looks like one with
white sugar
The overall
experience was a mixed one with few hits and few misses. I would go back to eat
the chicken liver, the fish, Gnocchi and chocolate salami.
Verdict: 3/5
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