Little Italy — Restaurant in Mumbai

Little Italy has always been on my mind since I came to know of it. Fate would never let me visit this place, how much ever I planned, for some reason or the kther, it got cancelled.

One day, my friend messaged me saying she is having a Kitty Party at Little Italy and would I join, and I instantly said yes and luck was on my side, and I finally visited Little Italy Juhu.

It's located near Cooper School and can be easily reached via Google Maps.

Little Italy is a pure vegetarian fine dining restaurant that serves Italian cuisine. The ambiance is a mixture of green and brown and white. The vibes are too positive and very beautiful, staff is so courteous.

We met the owner, Mr. Abhi Mehta, who told us everything about the place, his passion for food, how he experiments with food so that we can get an amazing adventure on the table. He has turned the authentic Italian dishes into something that we Indians love and I was all in love with the food there. Listening to him, explaining his dishes, his food, it made my experience at Little Italy all the more delicious and yumm.

Caesar's Salad :

Crispy lettuce leaves, crispy croutons, olives and dressing. A refreshing salad to start my meal with. The quantity was too good.

Cream of Mushroom Soup :

I don't like mushrooms as such but love them in the creamy soups. If a menu has cream of mushroom soup, I will have it. The soup here was amazingly creamy, with small bits of mushrooms in it. A great appetizer.

Crostini Rustici :

5 pieces of Crostini, each with different toppings - Olives, Capers, Avocado and 2 plain with lots of cheese on them. They were absolutely crispy and very very cheesy. I loved the sauce they applied on the bottom of the bread. This is a must try, specially with soup.

Pizza Paprika :

Their pizzas are thin crust and they have an electrical wood fired oven. I loved the pizza sauce that they used. The base was crispy on the sides and soft in the middle. This had the house made tomato sauce, lots of mozzarella cheese, chilli oil and roasted garlic. I could just eat this alone and be contented.

• HIGHLY RECOMMENDED *

Pasta Del Barone :

This one made a place in my heart. Spinach and ricotta ravioli, tossed in white and res sauce both. The outer covering of the ravioli was really really soft and the stuffing inside kust made my mouth flutter. It was just so yumm. The sauce was tooo creamy and went really well with the ravioli.

• HIGHLY RECOMMENDED *

Arrancini Balls in Pomodoro Sauce :

Arrancini Balls are balls made of risotto, stuffed with cheese. Usually, deep fried. But here they toss it in your choice of sauce, either tomato or cheese sauce. I chose the tomato sauce or the Pomodoro Sauce. Here it's more of a main course than an appetizer. Regardless, I loved it. The arrancini balls were still crispy, inspite of the tomato gravy, very cheesy inside, and the sauce was just heavenly. I even had the sauce just by itself and it was just perfect, tangy, bit sweet and spicy aftertaste.

• HIGHLY RECCOMENDED *

Gelato al Caffee E Sambuca :

Going to an Italian restaurant and not trying their Gelatos is sin. Gelato is nothing but Italian style Ice-cream. I chose the one with Coffee and Sambuca liquor in it. It had lots of slivers of almonds which gave the gelato the crunchy element. The coffee flavor was soo perfect, it was like having a cold coffee with Sambuca in it. The flavor really came through.

Tiramisu :

One more Italian dessert that can't be missed. Fresh, soft bread, coffee concoction and cream. It was soo delicious, and it was huge. I completed practically the whole thing. Every spoon makes you go back for more.

Overall, a fun, ladies day lunch I spent with my friends. Service was really quick inspite of it being lunch time. Hospitality was just so humbling. They took care of our even small minute changes in the food items. A perfect, vegetarian, fine dining Italian restaurant that I was on the look out for, where one can sit with family and friends and just have a peaceful time with...

I had visited little Italy when I was a kid with my family. However, I don’t remember much except of eating lot of chilli flakes. But now I visited it with my friends, it’s a pure veg restaurant. You will not find any other authentic italian restaurant in Mumbai other than this. The ambience and service is fine, like an authentic fine dine. The food is expensive, heavy on the pocket but portions are Indian. I mean you get good quantity and quality for the price you pay. I would definitely recommend it for a family and friends outing. I ordered my menu and tasted what my friends had ordered.

Soup:

Cream Di Funghi (4/5)-  This soup looked very delicious and tasted equally good. It was a lot for one person. However, we were seven people so it was enough. The taste is a bit tangy, broth is thick and mushrooms are flavory. Presentation was neat. It’s a must try soup.

Salad:

Ceaser Salad (5/5)-  This one was too much for even 4 people to eat. There was light layer of cheese on the  lettuce. Croutons were crispy which is how they should be. They can add romaine lettuce to the dish to make it a little more interesting. However, it was a very healthy and highly recommend one from my side. Totally italian.

Starters:

Crostini Rustici (4/5)- I tasted it a bit. My favorite toppings were artichokes as I have tried jalapeño elsewhere. I found the twist interesting. Good dish to try for a lazy afternoon with friends.

Arancini A Modo Natoro (5/5)- If you miss gravy in an Italian restaurant, then this one is the dish for you. I tried this with lot of chilli flakes to make it more “Indalian”. The balls were succulent and shallow fried but not oily. The gravy was what I’ll remember this restaurant for. Highly recommend, a must try dish especially for gravy and spice lovers.

Lebanese Jar Mini (5/5)- I wanted to try lebanese menu. I saw in their menu that they have Lebanese dishes. I tried this mini jar, flavors were coming one after another. Each taste lingering in your mouth. Loved it.

Mains:

Pizza Paprika (5/5)- This one was ordered by my friend. I tasted a slice, it was very hot and spicy. Being a spice lover, this one won my heart. Cheese was perfect, it was thin crusted and made on wood fire. If you are going out for a friends evening then this is the Pizza to try.

Bombay Pizza (5/5)-  Again, this one was ordered by me. Mushrooms, mushrooms and a lot of them. Thin crust, wood fired and spicy taste. This one comes with cottage cheese and mozzarella. I would want them to introduce a variety with cheese buffalo. In any case, this one is my list for evening with friends along with Pizza Paprika.

Dessert:

Chocolate Bomb (4/5)- Chocolate Lava cake was served with vanilla ice-cream. The cake was spongy and chocolate lava was oozing taste!

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2.Vanilla Butterscotch Gelato (5/5)-  I love vanilla ice-cream, I love butterscotch. I got this variety at Little Italy, labeled G-9. This one is the dessert you cannot miss. Don’t think anything just shut your eyes and order this one.

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Tiramisu (4/5)-  It was really good in taste. Coffee and rum blended well. However, presentation was a little plain.

So, my verdict is that if you are thinking of going Italian for lunch or dinner then think of Little Italy. If you are pure veg and tired of regular worn out options then again think of Little Italy Juhu. High price but huge portions to fill your stomach. Taste mein Italian, service mein Indian. Awesome,...

The restaurant has been there for little over 2 decades and I have been visiting this place since since early 2000's. The place has become iconic for their core Italian cuisine which is home like.

I visited the restaurant after couple of years and it was refreshing to see a completely new interior and decor. The lighting was also complimenting the decor.

This is a veg only restaurant and someone who doesn't know they could be in for a surprise. We didn't order anything from the Mexican menu, we stuck with the Italian menu only.

We started with soup and starters and then main course.

Zuppa di Pomodoro (Tomato Soup) - Rating - 4/5 Rich and thick tomato soup which hardly needed any condiments except some crushed black pepper. The croutons with the soup made it worth a meal starter.

Assorted Bruschetta - Rating - 3.5/5 There were 6 types of toppings on the platter. The basic ones were sautéed minced garlic and another one was tomato paste topping. Then there was one with tomato paste and cheese topping. One with tomato salsa topping. One with cream cheese spread with pitted olives and last one was chopped bell peppers. The topping was good but I felt the base bread could have been crisped up a little more.

Agile Olio E Peperoncino with Spaghetti - Rating - 4/5 The traditional no sauce pasta made with spaghetti. The spaghetti was cooked correctly and it was al dente. The flavours were well balanced with garlic, olive oil, chilli flakes and little parsley. We opted for no sauce pasta as other dishes were in arrabbiata sauce.

Gnocchi in Arrabbiata Sauce - Rating - 3/5 While we could not find Gnocchi on the menu, the server suggested that he can get gnocchi in any sauce we would want. We opted for arrabbiata sauce. The portion size was large with about 15-18 gnocchi pieces. The gnocchi was soft and tender. The sauce has little heavy tomato flavours though the seasoning was well balanced.

Arancini Balls in Arrabbiata Sauce - Rating - 4/5 The crisp fried arancini balls were dipped in the thick arrabbiata sauce. The arancini cover was think and crispy and with the sauce it tasted really good.

Sicilia (Woodburn Pizza) - Rating - 4/5 Woodburn Pizza might be the restaurant version of wood fired oven pizza. The pizza was medium thick crust and one can see the charring marks on the base due to oven. The topping were generous and loaded with cheese, mushrooms and onions.

Anyone looking for a great spread on Italian food should visit Little Italy. We enjoyed our meal and quite satisfied with food and...