Cafe Rome — Restaurant in Bengaluru

I just left C Rome after lunch, and I'm irritated enough to type out a review, so here goes. The food was good, no complaints. Just getting that out of the way. A friend and I went, we ordered a bubble tea, a juice, chicken canapés, and a large lamb pizza. Very well priced too. So far so good. The actual issues we had were with the thoughtlessly presented food (very forgivable, you can't think of everything while designing food) and really careless, grumpy service (this is important).

@ thoughtlessly presented - the bubble tea came in a long glass bottle with a lid. And a slim, short straw. Nah, not working. So we called the staff, he said oops, and gave me a fat straw. It was too short, almost drowned in the bottle. So I asked for a glass, emptied it into it, ate the last bits with a spoon. The canapés are neither bite sized, nor large enough to cut in two with a knife and eat. And the mound of chicken on them is too high to take easy bites if you have a normal sized mouth. Minor annoyances, would help if they were looked into, but nothing serious.

The real bummer was the service. Not a single staff meets your eye. There's a pillar in the middle of the room, they're all hiding behind it. We didn't order half of what we wanted to because we felt we'd be disturbing them. When they do notice your hand up, they approach you as if we may ask for their kidneys. One gentleman in particular was in VERY bad spirits. We asked him for Tabasco sauce (no Cutlery at the table, no sauces for the pizza), he took it out of the drawer in the manner of a jewelled crown 👑, banged it on our table and left. We signaled to ask for the bill. He saw us clearly, turned his head and strode off angrily, never to show up ever after, although he was right there. Eeks. Maybe it was our faces. The lady who served us (loosely speaking) didn't crack a smile, didn't seem interested, and told us that the pannacota wasn't available. There were only 2 other tables occupied, so it's not like they were busy. We didn't say a word, paid the bill and left, appalled. I'll tolerate growling staff at India Coffee House because they're an institution, and old Bangaloreans love them for it. Not at a Cafe Rome. May go back if we're dying to encounter a bunch of lousy...

About the restaurant and food- Great ambience, hygienic and absolutely authentic Italian equisetum ...The food was outstanding- especially the Double Cheese Margarita and Veg Club Sandwich..the Classic Caprese salad was just perfect and Himalayan honey lime was refreshing..it's a cosy and pleasing place...for those who love to get away from the busy city life, this place is for you.. (4 stars for this)

Now coming to SERVICE - I liked their presentation and eagerness to help their customers, BUT a big downside was that we were rushed through our food giving us no time to enjoy all the things mentioned above

The order of serving food was kind of weird too, Normally we expect soup along with salad followed by appetizers and main course (atleast this is what I've experienced in many high profile restaurants in India and other countries I've been to) but it was all over the place here.

Surprisingly they served main course right after soup and while we had just started with main course (pizza and club sandwich) they just stuffed our table with salad, appetizers and drink all at once which was very awkward and overwhelming to us... especially with a 6yr old kid on the table..the restaurant management kind of sensed the awkwardness and gave us a free desert to cover it up mentioning it's Saturday and we have large crowds (the restaurant was busy yes,but not like there wasn't place to sit. People like to dine peacefully with families in the evening & love to have family time together and just rushing them through is just not right!)..Sometimes a free desert doesn't cover up your experience... (2 Star for their Service as it was below average)

Overall the food was heavenly, ambience was perfect, company was great...but did not get time to enjoy them all... hopefully the restaurant management will give us some room next time to...

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!PLEASE READ BELOW!! Good ambience and service. However, the food was very disappointing. Appetizers that we ordered : Jamaican Jerk fried chicken : 0/10* Was too dry and the sause,curd based, did not compliment the chicken, did not like the sause at all. Chicken was undercooked/raw. Tasted like garam masala. Very disappointing. When we told them about it being raw the waiter said it's because of the marinade. However, cooked chicken is always white in color when cooked and when undercooked pink, basic knowledge we've learnt via MasterChef 😅 5 overpriced tiny chicken strips for rs.290. Do yourself a favour and buy a Kg of chicken and cook at home 🏠 Peri peri Wings : 0/10* The flavour wasn't appealing though the wings had a crispy texture, was too dry. Didn't taste anything like peri peri. Couldn't recognize or pin point the masala used. Wouldn't recommend this at all. Quantity consisted of 5 small overpriced chicken wings for rs.300. Again the sause just didn't go!!Was very disappointed.

Pizza | Peri Peri Chicken Pizza : 4/10* The cheese which they used for this pizza was very good. Apart from that, it lacked flavour and was too bland.

Cold coffee : 4/10 Even though we asked for lesser sugar to be added it tasted like a very basic cold coffee that you would get in any juice shop that would cost you max rs.50.

Iced Americano: 3/10 Not enough coffee added, too diluted. If you love coffee, this is a nono.

In conclusion, Cafe Rome, did not keep up to its name when it came to the food we ordered.

However, it's just been 2 months since they've opened so there is enough room for changes and improvements to be made to the quality and quantity of the food.

Hope...