Nariman Point's new Italian restaurant, Ristorante Prego, has a long way to go in the flavour and hygiene department, writes Kareena N Gianani
It is a weeknight, and the earnestness is palpable at Ristorante Prego. The week-old restaurant at Nariman Point is the latest to serve Italian cuisine in the area.
We take a seat and are immediately joined by the server who hands us the menus, which we feel could be a tad more inspiring. The range of dishes, however, doesn’t disappoint — there is much to choose from in drinks, soups, salads, appetisers, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas and the mains.
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We decide to sample their most curious cocktail Mudslide (Rs 450), because it has everything we love — Kahlua, Baileys Irish Cream, Vodka blended with vanilla ice cream. To top it all, it is served with Hershey’s Chocolate syrup and whipped cream. However, after a couple of minutes, we are told that the restaurant cannot serve it. One of us sulks a bit, but calls for Sex On The Beach (Rs 425) (Peach Schnapps and vodka with cranberry and orange juice). The drink, however, barely has the right quantity of alcohol. It is mainly juice.
Lobster Ravioli u00a0with Whiskey Cream Sauce (pictured first) at Prego, Nariman Point
The Chicken and Asparagus with Herbed Vinaigrette saladu00a0(Rs 250) arrives looking colourful and fresh. We like it even before we turn our forks into the fresh chunks of chicken. There’s that crunchiness of the walnuts just before a piece of sweet lime bursts in your mouth in the middle of it all.
But there, unfortunately, in the middle of all the head-nodding, we spot a strand of hair. Our dish is promptly changed, but our appetites now make less of a noise.
We try to keep our heads up (and hope the kitchen keeps theirs) and call for a half-and-half Classic Spicy Pepperoni and Verdure pizza (Rs 395). The vegetables on the vegetarian side of the pizza are fresh and it tastes good, but it isn’t memorable. The pepperoni side tastes better and lives up to the spicy proclamation.
Next arrive the Lobster Ravioli with Whiskey Cream Sauce (R 450) and Mushroom Ravioli with Marsala Sauce (R 350). Both dishes are creamy, well-seasoned but don’t jump off the page, which is something we need by now.
That’s why we are surprised to find another strand of hair in the mushroom ravioli. After much blanching (on our part) and profuse apologies (on theirs), we decide to not ask for a replacement of the dish, and call for the Tiramisu. We are told it isn’t available and are asked to try the blueberry cheese cake. It tastes good, but not enough to undo the erstwhile experience.
At the end, Ristorante Prego did waive our bill off, and we want to attribute the double mishap to teething issues, but cannot. For a restaurant as classy, it has much to fix in terms of hygiene, we think. We cannot rate the experience as the bill was waived
Ristorante Prego
At: CR2 Mall, Nariman Point
Call: 30932030
Food: Not up to the mark
Service: Good
Ambiance: Goodu00a0
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