‘Establishment Ristorante’ Food Review: Trading on Tradition

Interiors of Ristorante.

Located in the same building which houses its elder sister concern of a patisserie and bakery, the recently established Establishment Ristorante perches on a top floor in Meherchand Market. From the mason jars filled with the various whorls, strands and tubes of different pasta to the gently playing Roman love ballads, not to mention the pictures of Farfalle and family, hung bright and cheerful, against the simple white brick walls, gives you a fair inkling of the kind of food on offer. And indeed, apart from a few salutations to the rest of the continent, the menu is largely Italian, a classical composition of zuppes, insalatas, risotto, pizza and pasta. A simple, two-sided affair, the menu still does have us wishing there more antipasti on offer. Perhaps, in due course.

Eschewing the more traditional bruschetta, we decide to chew on an open sandwich. The Prosciutto e Formaggio has toasty warm hunks of peasant bread, bedecked with its namesakes of ham and cheese. The crumbly bread, the toothsome ham and the gooey cheese, bound together by a roasted tomato sauce, preen our palate for the forthcoming Roman banquet.

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Since the moon’s in the sky, it behoves us to get a big pizza pie. The Smokin’ Hot!! comes with a Sicilian thin crust, laden with pimento peppers, jalapenos, mushrooms and chilli flakes with a garlicky tomato base. Light on the stomach, yet heavy on the palate, this one will make you go amore.

In creamy contrast is the Pasta alla Carbonara. Roughly chopped rashers of bacon and al dente spaghetti come smothered in a cream cheese sauce seasoned with dried rosemary and oregano. Swirl fork, open mouth, eat, repeat, until the ceramic bowl is scraped clean and retains its former pristineness. Speaking of scraping clean, after all the mouthfuls of Italiano, we crave some good ol’ English. And so dessert is the Banoffee Pie Jar, which is assembled at the bakery downstairs, and rushed up to us post-haste. We return the flavour, er, favour and polish off the trifle layering of browned bananas, thick coats of caramel and lashings of cream. All in record time.

Meal for two: Rs 2,000 (including taxes, excluding alcohol)

Address: 96, Meherchand Market, Lodhi Colony, Delhi | Contact: 9999516755