Cecconi's Mumbai — Restaurant in Mumbai

Cecconis, one of its restaurants known for North Italian dishes and the flavors of Italy is located on the ground floor with a wood fire pizza counter, huge bar setup in the indoor area which is adjoining to the outdoor area with tables outside overlooking the beach. Great wooden seating with artsy walls, planters, small trees, pretty decor and a cozy atmosphere to sum it up and excellent ambiance this restaurant makes you instantly happy with its choice of look as well as food.

Starting with the Sunday brunch that I was most excited about had a wide variety of options and so many stations and counters be it for vegetarian or non-vegetarians. There were two separate counters for salad, one being a vegan counter. I tried the potato salad and the pasta salad amongst the non vegan and they were delicious. But the vegan salads were even better. I totally loved the cous cous, pumpkin, beans and chickpeas, wild black rice and the roasted cauliflower salad. I probably filled my self with these amazing salads.

I love cheese and my meal at a brunch would be incomplete without trying some anti-pasti. Loved the exotic cheese and bread spread and couldn’t stop myself from trying some with the salads.

When at Cecconis, you can not not order their wood fired pizza. After taking some Instagram worthy pictures of the fancy food and sea view we ordered they’re signature pizzas which as recommended by chef. A Margarita for my son and with broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes and peppers for us. To be honest, I’m still gushing over their pizzas. The crust so airy and light, perfectly cooked and charred, fresh, well balanced tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, great texture, flavor and oh so decadent. The pizza was so light and delicious, that my son could easily finish it all by himself.

Among the other stations were the Indian counter with an array of subzis and dals both for non vegetarians and vegetarians that gave out a lovely earthy, rich Indian aroma. An Indian grill and chaat section where I tried some paneer tikka and baby corn, some sev puri as well. We also tried some Indian farsan like kothambir wadi, khandvi with chutneys and raitas.

The also had an Italian grill counter that served grilled vegetables with polenta and some lasagna as well. The pasta counter has a variety of pasta selection with a choice of sauces. Not to forget they also had some delicious dips and oils like the olive tapenade which was great.

For all the sweet toothed, an array of desserts and fresh fruits were laid out by the bar. Vegan desserts like the coconut cake, cupcakes, eggless tarts, donuts and cakes that contained egg. The choices were limited but good. I loved the chocolate ganache sea salt tart. Very well made tart that was. My son enjoyed the donuts and eclairs.

The diy pancakes and waffle counter was a big hit. You can top your pancakes and waffles with your choice of compote, whip creams, cookies or brownie bits and create a masterpiece.

All in all a very warm experience at Soho house with good food but will prefer coming for lunch by the weekdays to try their super famous Ala carte dishes and more exotic pizzas, mascarpone cheese with truffle chips which is yet on my list. Good spread otherwise and Cecconis is highly recommended by me for all the pizza lovers and the ones who are fond of a great ambiance, sounds of the waves and a good time and you might end up bumping into someone from the Bollywood...

Cecconi's - This is one place with i would love to visit whenever i crave for Authentic Italian cuisine. From the Vibe till the cuisine - Just awesome. Surprised to see mixed reviews of this place. Portion size is Okay, service was good, cocktails amazing. Overall it is a good place to visit. They have Brunch on Sunday (i had gone on a weekday) and it was packed for Lunch. By the way this is at SOHO house Juhu.

Tried some of the dishes as under:

Lamb meatBalls - just perfect. All aspects. Truly Italian. Subtle in taste with amazing flavours from the herbs used. Minced meat had a bit of Rusty texture. Tomato sauce made simple - A bit on the sour side (Italy) and Basil. Overall this was a nicely made dish. 4 pieces.

Baked Gnocchi Romana - another dish which was subtle in flavours but richness all over it. 4 cheeses used and baked. Just apt and went well with the Cecconi's Spritz (Gin based House Chinotto and Prosecco) Fresh and perfect for this weather.

Calamari Fritti - crunchy outer layer. Made just perfect. Went well with the tangy zest Lemon Aioli. If one likes calamari do try this. Nice portion.

Tuna Tartare with avocado (a salad basically) but one be an appetizer as well. Freshly cut small diced pieces of Tuna. Blend of avocado (smooth) texture. A bit of chilli (gives that Hit) with lemon and lettuce leaves fresh. A bit of diced tomatoes. Overall this was a classic dish. Polished it.

Burrata, this is freshness all the way. One can see and feel the fresh Burrata the moment it's cut. This is accompanied with half cut red cherry tomatoes and basil. Simple yet classic. I have heard some good chefs recommending this dish. It's worth an order anytime.

These guys have a well socked bar - Negroni is worth a try. Nicely balanced.

Coming to Pizzas - Loved it. Tried the Basic wood fire margarita with fresh Basil. So Italian. Can't go wrong. Crust was good. Texture and sheen was perfect. Sauce was perfect. And yes buffalo mozzarella. Overall full marks. They have 2 sizes. Do check the menu.

Another one which i tried was the one of the best i have had in recent times. Black truffle wild Mushrooms. Taleggio. (This is a cheese Semi Soft from Italy) Strong in aroma. Overall all the elements were sharp and had strong. 3 grams of Fresh Black Truffle shaved over the Pizza made the day. Just perfect. No complaints. Texture/Taste good.

Coming to Mains - Do try the Lamb Bolognese, minced well, rusty in texture. Balance of Olive oil/kosher salt/celery/red onions/garlic and may be red wine. This was tossed with Pappardelle (large broad shaped pasta) this is similar to Fettuccini. Made in house. Balance was just perfect and the portion was good enough for 2. This pasta comes from the Tuscany region.

Tonarelli - this is another type of Italian Pasta also known as Spaghetti alla chitarra (2/3mm thick) made in house. Done el Dante (That's how it was supposed to be) Cacio and pepe - simple presentation. This means Cheese and Pepper. Simple dish made classic. Loved it. By the way Cacio cheese is semi soft which was grated over the pasta.

Dessert - Try the Tiramisu, can't be missed. Lovely texture. Loaded with rum, nice hit of coffee balance was perfect.

Overall - WOW. Do visit this place. After a long time some nice authentic...

So let me start with some disclosure, I recently moved to Mumbai from Milano, Italy . I'm not Italian but I've lived there for 35 years so I think i've picked up experience dining there over the years and Cecconi's is the closest thing to home in Italy and authentic Italian food that I have found so far in India, probably the best in Mumbai but I haven't tried them all yet but this must be in the top tier. It's a 5* from me and yes the drinks and wine list is at a premium but hey when you have a prime location on Juhu Beach, great ambience (loved the duo singing for Sunday brunch with a great play list, even that was perfect) and serve such great food then I guess you set your prices accordingly. I also read previous comments about rude staff, sometimes I think it's the attitude of the customers that can be divas if they don't get the attention they feel they deserve, I had no such problem with any of the staff, they were very attentive and polite so I disagree with the previous comments. So I better mention something about the food, first of all I thought it might be an Italian head chef as it was that good, and if not an Indian who had worked in Italy for a while instead I was pleased to be introduced to Anand the head chef who only studied under Italian chefs in India, my compliments for his skill and sensitivity in learning the Italian touch. So to start with I ordered the buffalo carpaccio (in the absence of beef) which was very tender and honestly I would not have known, I am not too convinced about the pesto sauce rather than say a good virgin olive all and parmigiano but it was good. Then the pizza with prosciutto, rocket and mozzarella di buffala cooked in a wood fired oven, amazing, really I've eaten worse in Italy even so well done Anand & Co. I would have liked a little more mozzarella though chef. These mozzarella are Indian and not from Battipaglia in Italy but they are delicious, very creamy in fact more like "burrata" than mozzarella but super on the pizza. Then to continue the experience it was followed by tagliolini with zucchine e gamberi (prawns), again very subtle, a little sweet even but chef has learned not just to put chilli on everything or adapt to Indian taste, if you want authentic Italian you can even have "aglio, olio e peperoncino" (garlic, olive oil and chilli) but that is just one dish often on the coast also served with prawns so maybe a suggestion for future menu inclusion to satisfy the spice lovers. By the way the menu is not extensive, but the quality is high so it has a certain logic to not try to offer everything, there was even the classic Roman "caccio e peppe" on the menu worth a try. Now then we come to the good part, dessert and the TIRAMISU, this was THE BEST in India and hard to beat, it was just like my friend Simonetta's family recipe, it's meant to be more of a moose with wet mascarpone and the savoiarde biscuits soaked in espresso (and Simonetta's recipe included a shot or two of cognac with the espresso to enrich it) but NOT some dry sponge like a cake with some coffee flavouring as I often find is pitched as Tiramisu, this is how I know Anand had great Master Chef teachers and he listened and as the Terminator "Arnie" famously said...