Little Italy Restaurant, Anna Nagar Chennai — Restaurant in Tamil Nadu

I wanted to have dinner with my mother and friends and went excited to little italy (Anna Nagar)on 12/11/2022 approximately 8:30pm. First when i entered the host Mr. Prem was not at all welcoming he was just staring at me with a straight face like i entered the wrong place. I started the conversation and told him i didn't make a reservation so he took my name and details. Then we settled and i I had a look at the menu and then we decided to order a couple of things and it so happened Mr. Prem had to ask us are you ready with your order, i said yes and started by asking will u suggest me your signature dishes for me the try today. I was shocked the way he answered. He told me around 10-12 french dishes names which was mentioned in the menu already with a sarcastic smile on his face and no eye contact with me, at last he said there are lot of breads that we have and i do not know you will like them, I told him did i ever say i dont want to have breads to you! He told me we have so many options and answered me like you decide on your own. This just instantly put me off and i just wanted to not eat in little italy. I said i dont want to eat anything and left the place. He did apologise and i told him what he had done but i wanted to put this in review because no else should face the same issue again. Also Mr. Prem needs to understand that this is India and people might not understand the menu sometimes and they will definitely ask doubts and suggestions. But if this is the way he will answer to the customers then people are definitely going to stop visiting this particular branch. He needs to work on his facial expression's, his correct usage of words and not being judgmental towards his customers. I definitely felt he looked down on us and his treatment to us was not the right way to treat anyone who wants to spend on a particular restaurant. I request the management to brief Mr.Prem and his team...

Little Italy has been on my bucket list for quite some time and decided to try it when my friend suggested we try a Continental Place for Lunch...

They had a pretty good Parking facility with Valet Service but not sure how it will be on a Weekend Dinner... The Restaurant is located on the 4th Floor and they had a big enough Lift...

The Restaurant was Elegantly Decorated and the Tables were aptly spaced to have a Quiet Lunch... There were only a few people dining at the time... The Service was Fast and the Waiters were quite courteous and attentive...

We Started off with a Butternut Squash Soup which was excellent... The soup was fresh and had subtle flavors not dominating the Palate...

The Fried Ravioli which we ordered was served in skewers... It was Okay at best... I couldn't really tell what was in them as it was fried crisp... The sides of Marinara and Garlic Mayo was good...

The Caprese was probably my favorite of the lot... The Tomato was Juicy and Fresh paired really well with the Cheese and the Pesto Sauce... I wish the Cheese slices were a little thick as it was lip smacking good...

For Main Course we had the Eggplant Parmigiana... The Marinara Sauce was outstanding, fresh and simple... The Eggplant was cooked to perfection and by the time we finished it we were stuffed...

We also ordered the Napoli Pizza which was good too... The Veggies were really fresh and the Dough was freshly made... We could have only 2 slices but packed up the rest for later...

I wanted to try the Desserts but we were so full that we couldn't eat another morsel... I would probably visit the place once again to try their desserts...

Overall an Excellent Experience and we thoroughly enjoyed the Food... They did serve some Mexican food as well but we didn't try them... The Price was on par with the food and service... I would highly recommend this place to have some good Vegetarian...

OVERALL: Excellent but the vegan menu is a tad over-priced for India. We made reservations via Google/Dineout.

FOOD: We tried the Vegan Pasta Pesto and Vegan Pizza Rustica--both were excellent although I thought the pasta was quite a bit softer than "al dente" but far from mushy, i.e. it retained a passable amount of firmness and texture but was tad too flexible IMO. The pizza base was nice but it was bit "loaded" for my taste and the vegan cheese was nice but not stretchy like mozarella (not a problem for me). I do think that they need to use 33% more tomato puree for the pizza. Portions were goo: more than enough for 3 people with moderate appetites. I was particularly delighted to see that each table had chilli-and-rosemary infused olive oil in addition to other condiments like dried rosemary and red chilli flakes, salt, pepper etc. Presentation was pretty goo too.

PRICE: INR 600/USD 7.25 per person on average including drinks and taxes. Vegan Pasta Pesto was INR 650/USD 8, Vegan Pizza Rustia INR 700/USD 8.75, Coke INR 80/USD 1. Prices are significantly above the Chennai average (which I estimate to be around INR 320/USD 4 per person) for similar-ish restaurants but so is the quality.

STAFF: A little disappointing because they weren't able to communicate to well in English. For instance, they offered us a choice of "normal or wheat pasta" -- pasta is always made from wheat and what they meant was "whole wheat pasta". That was a bit confusing because I was wondering what the pasta is "normally" made of. However, the overall service was goo.

AMBIENCE: Very pleasant but the music's too loud and I'd suggest playing only instrumental music. I found it annoying. Everything else was nice.

LOCATION: Prominent and goo with parking inside the building. Right next to Starbucks on 2nd Avenue. Take elevator...