La Dolce Vita

Review: Mezzo Mezzo

Yes Culinary Muse has been living La Dolce Vita or the Good Life lately. It almost like Fergie singing G.L.A.M.O.U.R.O.U.S in the background! She has dining (and wining) at Mumbai’s finest places! And the latest to join her list is the celebrity Italian Restorante at JW Marriott – Mezzo Mezzo.

With it’ dim (read: close to nil lighting) and wooden flooring (that went tock tock with her heals), you’d believe you are on the sets of God Father with the mysterious music playing in the background et all.

As for the food, here goes Culinary Muse’ take

 Citrus & Herb Marinated Alaskan Sea Scallops

Picolli Morsi or as they say Small bites  -  We started with the Citrus & Herb Marinated Alaskan Sea Scallops – juicy chunks of the fish marinated in this divine herb and zesty limoncello -  tasted just beautiful. The next Proscuitto San Danielle – Shaved Parma Ham with Warm Buffalo Mozzarella – the rusty saltiness of the parma ham combined with slightly bland mozrella was amazing. Then was the Pizza Biance Con Rucola – a delicious pizza sans any tomato sauce just Mozrella and Cream topped with the picante taste of rocket salad – brilliant again (Check out Chefs Corner for the Recipe & World Cafe for more about the dish). Not thats what I call exotic yet tasty. Who would say that Italian food is bland.

Proscuitto San Danielle

Wine - Alessandro Comin, Maitre D'Hotel suggested we pair this course  with Wine Zardetto Procesco Brut NV (Rs 700 per glass), a sparkling wine. Though it had a nice fruity flavour to it, I personally found the Vini too dry.

Primi Piatti (First Course) – We then moved on to the first course where we had two kinds of Pasta’s-  Rigatoni in tomato based sauce – giant flat pasta in a tomato consomme with braised egg plant and fresh ricotta – I thought this needed some more flavour or seasoning to it. The next one was a Giant Shell with Chantralle Mushrooms, Truffle Cream Sauce – ambroasial flavours of truffle cream cheese with the mildly peppery taste of the chantrelle mushrooms! However Culinary Muse thought that pasta was a bit thick and doughy.

Wine – We paired this with Ferragamo Family Estate II (yes Salvatore Ferragamo) Borro lamelle 2008 (Rs 750 per glass). The wine was straw yellow in colour and had an intense floral and peach taste to it with a hint of vanilla. Brilliant! Now this is the kind of wine Culinary Muse would love to get high on!

Secondi Piatti -  For the second course we start with Branzino al Forno in Guazzetto di Marre (thats a mouthful I know)– roasted Sea Bass Fillet, Clams, Mussels & Shrimps in a sort of white wine broth – I loved what the white wine did for all the sea food – just enhancing the flavours and not over powering them. Delectable. The New Zealand Rack of Lamb, however had some great flavour with perfectly mashed potatoes but was too rare and it took CM hell of time trying to cut through it. (almost felt like butchering it all over again). The meat was also quiet chewy

Wine – Again a  Ferragamo Family Estate II Borro Pian di Nova 2007 (Rs 600 per glass) was a ruby red in colour.It had this spicy taste to it that didn’t impress CM much!

Dessert – For desert we had the Classic Tiramisu – a bit sweet Italian delicacy – think I had too much of coffee powder on mine, the Mango Tiramisu however added different dimension, quite a welcoming one I would say. But a must have dessert was the Calzone - kanranji shaped bread filled with Nutella – one bite into it and you know what paradise would taste like!

Verdict:

Food: Excellent

Ambience: The God Father with music et all

Service: Good

A 4 course meal without Vini (Wine) at Mezzo Mezzo would cost Rs 2500 aprox plus taxes

Quicktip: To get a taste of authentic Italian supper Mezzo Mezzo is the place. Culinary Muse would it rank amongst the top three places in Mumbai where you could get a fix of Italian khaana.  Do try the seafood there, the scallops are to die for!