Spaghetti Kitchen

When this friend of mine said that he was going to Spaghetti Kitchen, I asked him where it was! He almost threw a fit. "What?" "You don't know where it is?" "Are you really Chennai Foody?" were some of the abuses I had to endure. "Dude, its the latest thing in Italian and it is on the top floor of Express Avenue mall," he said, finally answering my question. As I learnt a day later, it is at the Phoenix Mall! So much for our friend's knowledge! On a saturday night, after returning the abuses, four of landed there and the place wasn't full, but was reasonably packed. Blame it on the exams? After Focaccia, my taste for Italian went up one notch and after a great lunch at Tuscana the previous day, I was telling myself to keep expectations under check.

After settling down, we asked for a Burnt Tomato and Basil soup as recommended by the waiter and all four of us liked it very much. It had a very slight burnt tomato flavour and though not as good as the burnt tomato in other places (none in Chennai, though), the soup was good enough for a restaurant in a mall! Next up was the Sicilian Garlic Chicken, plated with a little crisp on top. With a heavy tomato base and a well done chicken, it was pretty good.

Moving to the main course, we told the waiter that the soup and the starter had similar flavours and so we wanted something different for the main course. After a short discussion, we narrowed it down to Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli, a Chicken in Tomato and Basil Spaghetti after specifically asking and being reassured that it will not taste the same as the soup and a Our Famous Black Pepper Chicken!
Two of the dishes, the spaghetti and the ravioli tasted the same as the soup and the starter. Even though the waiter suggested it, we should have known better. The Famous Black pepper chicken was excellent and the olive filled mash was a super side to it!!!

We then moved to dessert and in an Italian restaurant that you visit for the first time, Tiramisu should be an automatic choice, so we went with one of that and a Triple Chocolate Biscotti. The triple chocolate biscotti was an outstanding dessert, being creamy, chocolaty and crispy all at the same time. But the tiramisu was a stark disappointment. There was almost no layer of ladyfinger soaked in espresso save for a tiny layer and it was all cream. We told the chef that and he said that this was their style. Since we left it largely untouched, we were not charged for it.

I liked the quality of the food here and maybe next time, I will ensure that I get to try different flavours instead of the one red sauce that dominated most of the dishes and that way I will know if this place has versatility or not, but for now, we have another good addition to the Italian scene in Chennai, but with a very disappointing Tiramisu!