Spaghetti Kitchen Review – Italian food hopping!

Heyyyyy 🙂

How are you all? I’m doing good! With today’s post, I’m introducing a new segment on our blog! ♥ Foooooooood!

Food has always been something that is close to my heart! (I’m sure for you too). I can go without anything but not my “time-to-time” khaana( food ) 😀 Or sometimes, even more khaana than required 😛 In my house, everyone knows what a TOTAL “paisa vasool” kinda foodie I am 😛

And when I started with my blog, 6 months back – I knew that one day I would definitely include food as a category! Because when I enjoy my food, I think my readers ought to know so that they go and binge on some delicacies that are really worth spending money on. And if you have closely observed our blog logo, it does symbolize food as a category too 😉

Anyhoo, now that I have decided to venture into writing about food on my blog – the first place that I want to review for you all is a favourite of mine – Spaghetti Kitchen ! I’m actually so glad that I was invited to try their new 2015 a la carte menu that has been added with a long list of yummy delicacies!

Spaghetti Kitchen, located in the busy vicinity of Koramangala is near Forum Mall, Bangalore. What I absolutely loved about the place is its ambience ! You enter a place that looks so desi-italian with it’s painted walls and interiors and at the same time, you would also groove your heads to some pop and rock english songs playing in the background.

On entering Spaghetti Kitchen, the first thing that you would notice is their buffet spread. What a sight! It’s a delight for foodies in every sense 😀 I decided to click a few pictures of everything that caught my fancy.

Being Italian, breads are something that are always part of their food. I did see an assorted bread basket kept near the buffet which again in every sense is italian.

Also, found some yummy tarts and pastries lined up on the side. Oh, please don’t think this was the summer menu. 😛 I haven’t even started speaking about that!

So when I walked in, the staff were very pleasant. Hospitality is something that staff of all restaurants need to pay heed to and I must say, we loved how courteous and concerned the staff were throughout 🙂

I met Chef Amit Puri, the Vice -President of Pan India Food Solutions who was there to make magic with his special new menu. 😀

I did have a chat with him and asked a whole lot of questions regarding food and the idea behind Spaghetti Kitchen. I would share the excerpts from the interview in awhile!

About Pan India Food Solutions

Incorporated in September 2000, Pan India Food Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (Blue Foods) commenced its operations in Mumbai and fast expanded its orbit covering other major cities across India. Being one of the lead players in the organized retail-food business in India, Blue Foods operates in the food & beverage segments with its lead brands.

The company’s expansion map has an aggressive strategic roll out plan. In a span of 10 years, Blue Foods is operational across more than over 125 outlets across India and serves more than one million customers monthly.Pan India Food Solutions has been awarded the prestigious ‘Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards’ in two main categories, one in ‘Excellence in Food Court Brand – Spoon’ in 2010 & 2011 and  2012 and as ‘Best Restaurant Chain’ for the year 2010.  The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf also won the Best Café (Gold) Award at India International Coffee Festival 2012. Spaghetti kitchen has won the Times Food Award in Best Italian Restaurant category at Kolkata and Bangalore for 2011.

So what is this new summer menu at Spaghetti Kitchen all about? 

The new and innovative a-la carte menu has been exquisitely crafted to satiate your taste buds with a burst of rustic and wholesome Italian and Mediterranean flavours. The specialty restaurant offers diners a contemporary atmosphere with its stylish and elegant Italian décor and peppy music.

Speaking on the launch of the new menu, K.S Narayanan, CEO- Pan India Food Solutions Pvt Ltd said, “Italian cuisine is the 3^rd largest contributor to the overall out-of-home eating category. The expectations of the consumers are consistently changing and people want to explore and try new cuisines and variations of classic dishes available on the menu. We believe in giving our consumers a variety of options on the menu in a relaxed and friendly environment at our restaurant.  Continuing in our commitment to deliver the best for our customers, Spaghetti Kitchen has re-invented and launched an exciting new menu to meet the modernisation of palates.”

The new menu goes well beyond pastas and Italian style thin crust pizzas, and introduces a wide range of delicious antipasti.

I went with my bestie so since it was scorching hot outside, we decided to try their summer coolers! While I chose Peach and Mint, my friend chose Summer Berry! While Peach and Mint cocktail, as the name says it all has peach and mint extracts… Summer Berry had extracts of orange juice, cranberry and berry!

The first thing Chef Amit “warned” us about is the umpteen number of choices one can make in terms of starters! Spaghetti Kitchen concentrates more on starters to make sure what you start off with is as pleasing as it can get.

• The first starter Chef Amit served for us is Fungi Fritti, which is mushroom caps filled with garlic spinach, herb scented cheese breaded and it is served with a yoghurt garlic dip. This is one of the best starters I have eaten until now. No kidding! It just melts in your mouth. It’s cooked perfectly, soft and a delight for vegetarians 🙂 Soft mushrooms inside with crisp cheese bread on the outside. Yum!
• The second starter we were served was Barbeque Pork Spareribs. While my friend is a veggie and I don’t eat pork very often, I decided to taste a little bit so that I could write a review about it for you all. So this is farm pork ribs marinated in cranberry and peppercorn after which it is smoked and grilled. At first sight, one would mistake it for chocolate cake with sauce all over, isn’t it? 😛 These pork spareribs taste aren’t spicy nor too bland. It’s a the perfect blend of both and has a smokey aftertaste as it’s grilled. One plate can easily serve two people!

• Third starter on the list was Frito Misto D’Mare which is an assorted sea food fritters served with burnt garlic aioli. This is basically prawns and fish which is fried and I loved LOVED this one. If you are a sea food lover, don’t miss out on this one 😀

• Next one on this list is Pancetta Genoa, which is Feta (meaning unsliced) cheese with cherry tomatoes, artichoke and cheese pancetta topped with olives and basil pesto. This starter was something different. The tomatoes and olives left a very tangy aftertaste. Give it a try if you love cheese.

Spaghetti Kitchen, being an Italian restaurant, expect a lot of cheese involved. 😛

• When we thought we were done with starters, Chef Amit Puri came by and told us there were more starters to try! Like whaaaat? Spaghetti Kitchen definitely takes their starters pretty seriously! 😛 The next thing we were served was Sicilian Garlic Cottage Cheese, which is soft cottage cheese enhanced with Italian herbs, roasted garlic, coloured peppers and fresh basil. I liked the starter but not as much as the previous starters. I like my starters to be tangy, spicy or even fried.  If you are someone who loves non-spicy or non-tangy food with just a pinch of pepper in it, you could give this a try 🙂

And finally we moved to main course 😀 BTW, this was some crazy amount of starters I have had at one go 😛

• The first thing we were served was their famous Thin Crust Pizza that had toppings of olives and sun-dried tomatoes. I love how crisp and perfectly cooked it was with cheese making the experience all the more pleasant.

• The next main course was Pasta! ♥ We were served Penne Vodka, which is a combination of sweet onion, light cream, imported Italian pomodoro tomatoes,Parmesan cheese, Italian parsley sautéed in butter and flamed with Vodka and adorned with shaved Parmesan cheese. This is their signature dish that tastes tangy with a tinge of sweetness and leaves an aftertaste that leaves you craving for more.
• The third one for main course was Cottage Cheese Umbria, which is cottage cheese squares topped with mushrooms served with a slow cooked ginger, tomato and orange glaze. It’s worth trying once 🙂

No meal is incomplete without dessert so here is what we tried-

• The first one was Raspberry Cheese Gelato which is a traditional italian style ice cream. Raspberry gelato as the name indicates contains raspberry and cheesecake. It’s not overly sweet. It’s one entire scoop of pampering your taste buds ♥
• The last but not the least, Tiramisu which has its origin in Italy, in the 1970s! Tiramisu’s literal and appropriate translation is “Pick Me Up”, making it doubly fitting as one of the most enticing dessert indulgence.

Now about what I spoke to Chef Amit Puri about…

What is the idea behind Spaghetti Kitchen?

The basic idea behind Spaghetti Kitchen is love for food and music. The ambience of the place and what we served you today pretty much sums that up, doesn’t it?

Why do you want people to visit Spaghetti Kitchen(SK) ? What makes SK stand out from the rest ?

We give more importance to starters and have a lot of options to choose from. One should visit SK because the ambience and food can definitely make you happy.

What do customers usually order st Spaghetti Kitchen? 

Spaghetti Kitchen Pizzas are well known and it’s a favourite with our customers.

How do you make every dish of yours a masterpiece?

I just cook from my heart.

Where is Spaghetti Kitchen located apart from Bangalore? 

It’s located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai.

I had a few more excerpts from the interview but I lost the data as my smartphone conked out on that day on my way back home. 🙁

But here’s some thing you need to know about Chef Amit Puri:

A part of Pan India Food Solutions since 2008, Chef Amit Puri is currently responsible for managing the operations for restaurants, across Copper Chimney, Noodle Bar, Gelato Italiano, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Bombay Blue across India. In this role, Chef Puri is responsible for creation of new recipes across different restaurants, sampling, designing menus for food festivals and standardization of operations across all outlets in the country. Since joining the leading multi-dimensional food and beverage company, Chef Puri has played a critical role in training chefs, supervising production across outlets, facelift old menus and streamlining operations.

Prior to joining the company, Chef Puri has had vast experience working with properties under Concept Hospitality such as The Orchid, Lotus Suites, Rodas, The Doddis, Bangalore, etc. His work has taken him to different cities of the country such as Bangalore, Mumbai and Aurangabad. These exposures have enriched his understanding of the food industry. Chef Puri has had the distinction of cooking for dignitaries and politicians such as the former late CM of Maharashtra, Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Kripa Shankar Singh, and others.  In his career span of over a decade, he has worked in various capacities, and is an alumnus of VGP Hotel Management Academy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and American Hotel and Motel Association. In his spare time, Chef Puri is an avid photographer, and enjoys music by playing the guitar.

So how was my over-all experience at Spaghetti Kitchen?

Mind blowing would be the right word. 😀 If you are someone who loves starters then you should definitely visit this place. It’s a paradise for people who love binging on different varieties of starters. Don’t miss out on their pasta as well! It’s one of the best I have tasted. Tangy, cheesy and the right blend of sweetness to it.

Would I visit Spaghetti Kitchen again?

Definitely! 🙂 The first thing that needs to please me when I go to a restaurant is its ambience. I was pretty impressed with the ambience at Spaghetti Kitchen. Peppy numbers playing in the background with amazing food is a deadly combination! ♥

On our TJD scrore card,

Spaghetti Kitchen scores a perfect Grade A+.

So, have you been to Spaghetti Kitchen? What’s your favourite dish there? Tell us in the comments below 🙂 And hope you loved this post as much as I loved writing about it. 🙂 I’ll be back with more!

Until next time,

Ciao. ♥