Restaurant Review: SoBo veg Italian eatery offers tasty, affordable fare

Crespelle Excelsior

Caffé Primo
Food: Good
Service: Cheerful
Ambiance: Comfortable

Despite being a non-vegetarian, this writer had a tough time picking from an appealing, exhaustive menu at Fort's new all veg Italian eatery. The first section that caught our eye was the piadas. A popular Italian street food item, the thin flatbread is typically prepared in the Romagna region of the country. It is usually prepared using white flour, lard or olive oil, salt and water. We picked the Piada Con Arrancini (Rs 275), stuffed with blue cheese poppers, spaghetti aglio e olio, herb croutons, a spicy arrabiatta sauce, parmesan and soggy fries. Not too spicy, the piadas were the perfect way to begin our meal. It surely is our primo (Italian: first) reason to return.

Piada Con Arrancini. Pics/Bipin Kokate

Next came the Suppli Al Primo (Rs 300), which were gorgonzola stuffed fried riso balls. The crispy balls with a sticky mix were a tad bland but the marinara sauce complemented them perfectly, pumping up the flavour. We wanted to take some of the spicy, flavourful sauce home with us, however, a plastic pipette injecting the sauce and sticking out of one of the balls was a put off.

We tried the Raspberry Breeze Cremosa (Rs 250), listed as an authentic Italian soda, but found the raspberry crush- and nitro whipped cream concoction too sweet.

Crespelle Excelsior

The Crespelle Excelsior (Rs 425), comprising soft pan rolls stuffed with baby corn, broccoli, and mushroom with tender asparagus spears served in red tomato gravy, was favourful and not too heavy. We ended on a sweet note with the Salted Caramel Cheesecake (Rs 350), though we found one layer a bit tough. We loved the combination of the sticky toffee and salted caramel.

If you prefer louder music, grungy interiors and a sheesha, you could head to the restaurant's first floor section.