Ottimo Cucina Italiana

Slightly overrated. The pizzas are good, not great, can skip if you are looking for something exceptional (Tried the burrata for veg, and chicken for non veg). The sauces in both the lamb kidney risotto and the veg half and half ravioli were the stars, hearty and flavourful. Tiramisu was good, and the tuiles were a nice touch. Generally service was good, but food arrived slowly. Expect not to be dissatisfied, but not blown away either, IF you order ala carte

Luxury can be understated or it can be opulent. Ottimo Cucina Italiana has the understated variety that it wears with confidence and élan that comes from a very strong foundation in food, overseen by Chef Zubin Writer, who puts a little bit of his soul into every dish that goes out of his Cucina. He possesses an instinctive genius that no books can teach. Ottimo’s clarity is in its rather muted decor of beige, cream, marble and wood, allowing the colours from the food to take centre stage, in a brilliant stroke in design. All design fascination fades into the background with the first look at my plate. Asparagus Panna Cotta. There are two stems. One green and the other white. There’s pine nuts and specks of the very precious Umbrian black truffle that make all the difference in a master dish. Prosecco precedes the Potato Nest to cleanse the palate. The nest itself, topped with salmon roe among other things. It simply disintegrates in the mouth. I delay the palate cleansing for a bit, as I want my taste buds to enjoy the extravagance for a little longer. Lobster Confit, chorizo espuma - imagine that! There’s more. This masterpiece has homemade cagliata and is topped with a green crisp made using the firm textured Carnaroli rice and spinach. Stuffed morel, with tender pea mash and cream topped with porcini mushroom dust. All ingredients come together like magic with porcini adding a small hint of umami. Finally, I come to the magical Tiramisu and simply have to follow it with a few small sips of Limoncello Di Capri. This food wins hearts via the taste buds. This is not a place for a quiet romantic dinner. Ottimo is almost always packed to capacity.

The restaurant is very cosy and more or less full for dinner time. Menu is elaborate. They serve freshly baked bread platter which is really good. I had ordered vegetarian pasta and some garlic bread . Pasta was good with rightly cooked and sauce was balanced. Garlic bread is OK.

We visited the restaurant for dinner on 1st Jan 2024. Though I made a reservation in the morning, we found that there was no reservation. The highlight of the reservation is that, when asked about special occasion, I told the reservation team personnel that the next day is my wife's birthday. He too made a note of it and still the reservation went down the crack.😀 Thankfully, the staff in the restaurant accommodated us. You need to go as a group of 4+ so that you get a better table. I went with my wife and kid and got a small table which really didn't give the feel of us sitting in ITC's Grand Chola. It was more like a broadway. Maybe they wanted to give us the feel of sitting outside a restaurant in Italy 😉 However, the staff were very courteous and made my kid very comfortable. They answered our queries regarding the menu and helped us in choosing the starters and main course. The food was really good 👍 The chicken spaghetti, the veg creamy pasta and the seabass tasted great. The vennila icecream should have been wonderful as I saw the way my wife and kid enjoyed it. The food and the service are the highlights of last night's dinner. I hope the management will ensure that everyone who walks into Ottimo feel the same experience regardless of the number of guests in the table.

Good place for Italian cuisine. The staff are cordial and polite.