Toscano — Restaurant in Bengaluru

When you have fleeting memories of time gone by , you romanticize everything. We came back to Toscano property after 9 years, our usual place used to be whitefield and just once or twice this ub city place. We were happy to see many food places but it felt more like right on street with loads of noise, heavy unrelated music and extremely hurried waiters who did not seem to have time much for anything. Very-2 different experience than original days. The waiters - looks like cause they are overworked tended to speak very little/very fast and sweet bong accent(loved it on day of Vivekananda birthday). My worry was the whole unhurried charm and slow needs was gone as they are busy restaurant now. Drinks - virtuosa, meglxxx, and some other mocktail was nice- may be little too sweet. Everything tasted similar. Food - this was a bummer - I desperately wanted to like it and savor it, but I was stuck back a decade. Here I had to request the olive oil separately with balsamic vinegar as accompanied ‘concoction’ were closer to local morning chutneys accompanying dosa/idly - they were super tiny too. My disappointment started with color and taste of olive oil- that old tangy, little on dark green olive oil was missing - it missed that zing.

Pasta was pesto Rosso - which was nice and tangy but again I felt somewhat overwhelmed with pasta itself and less of pesto. Pizza was light and fluffy but nothing ground breaking in terms of coming close to old days. May be i wanted the story about how the starter is still old one. The presentation on caprese was fine - I was surprised by presence of onions - but it all went fine.

Overall felt little hurried and challenged with popularity I guess - maybe we should have visited the less busy place or gone back to sunny for nostalgia and compared notes. Wish the team well as I saw them becoming chain across other cities - maybe they have become a franchise model and that is why we see the treatment v different. Only request is for serving team to slow down and speak slowly. And wait for the response - we had to correct and request for drinks as pasta and other stuff arrived way too early. This had to be...

The ambiance is warm and modern, guests are greeted with aromas of freshly baked breads from the live wood fire pizzeria at the entrance.I started my tasting session with, Passion fruit mojito: Bacardi, passion fruit puree, lemon wedges, fresh mint, demerara & sour mix. next up was Pumpkin, spinach and mushrooms soup: Butter and herb tossed veggies and beans are served in a large bowl then they pour a warm vegetable broth at the table. Then came the Herb grilled chicken & pear salad: Goat cheese, rucola, herb grilled chicken, crunchy lettuce, lolarossa, beets, toasted almonds, grilled pesto chicken, sun dried tomatoes, figs with feta and a balsamic vinaigrette and some croutons is one of my favorite salads here. Prosciutto mozzarella e melone is something you must not pass when in toscano: 24 months parma ham, freshly rolled buffalo mozzarella & rock melon is a classic and must try at toscano.Spaghetti aglio olio e pepperoni was okay nothing to rave about...Chocolate Fudge Cake, Affogato am caffe two beautiful desserts. I'm always a huge fan of the salads and soups at toscano. My suggestion is always try the soup of the day and salads first before indulging in pasta or pizza.

My three best picks from the entire tasting was Prosciutto mozzarella e melone, the ham was not to salty neither stale classic salad with fresh rolled mozerella literally melts in your mouth.

Next was the pumpkin, spinach and mushrooms soup. This soup was packed with flavors was so soothing. I have tried almost all the desserts at toscano but not the chocolate fudge cake its a must try from now on. I liked the crusty exterior and fudge center it was all gone in...

Went to Toscano for a lunch with a couple of friends and we each ordered the three course menu. So got to try 9 dishes in all 🙂

One of the best antipasti for beef lovers. Beef Carpaccio - pesto crusted beef tenderloin slices with celery, gherkins, pommery mustard and rocket pesto. the beef is so thinly sliced that if you manage to pick it up straight you can see through it.

Chicken Caesar salad: they did not put parmesan on top but we're generous to give us a bottle of it to add according to taste. 😜

Smoked Salmon Tartare with crunchy pickled cucumber, soft boiled egg, apple, caper berry and rocket salad, I loved this antipasti. The pickled cucumber was a delight.

Grilled Italian Pork Chorizo with mash potato, grilled veggies and pommery mustard. I loved the perfectly cooked pork sausages but the mashed potato was even better if I could say that.

Spice crusted basa is a great main course for one. Comes with crushed potatoes, vegetables and that delightful citrus butter sauce which accentuates the flavor of the fish.

Grilled Atlantic salmon with olive tapenade, vegetables, crushed potatoes and garlic caper mayonnaise. This was the star main course. The grill was perfect and the crust was yummy.

Chocolate Kahlua Mousse: superbly plated and such a delicious dessert after that great meal.

Tiramisu: the star of the lunch. It's the best one I have had in Bangalore.

Toffee brownie: with ice cream and fresh fruits on the side, this is a great option for brownie lovers.

All in all one of the best meals I have had in a while. Toscano continues to delight with it's food...