Bella Ciao

Jun 22, 2008

Dog Friendly and Italian to boot!

I am a little biased towards Bella Ciao as it is one of the very very few places in Chennai where I can take my puppy. They also have dogs which again makes me biased in their favour. The place is beautiful, open air tables with mellow lighting and a play area for the kids (or dogs) and a cute little tree house. There are a few cement seating tables and benches under thatch huts and few normal tables. There is an old but cute watchman at the door who will greet you exuberantly.

The service is nice, but sometimes a little too slow. The live music bands are more entertainment of the funny kind rather than the musical kind, but the past few times I have been there, there was not trace of a band.

Now coming to the drinks, there are the usual mocktails and juices and coffee (they make a mean espresso). On and off they serve wine too. Now when you ask them what wine their snooty answer would be french, for those who dont know about wine and are willing to pay 1500 bucks for it, the label does say made in france. But there is a catch, it is table wine (the lowest grade of french wine which is not even allowed to be called wine.) But its french and since my puppy is allowed to terrorize a few waiters, i dont make too much of a fuss.

Coming to the main criteria, the food, its italian and most of the dishes are great and kinda authentic. Stick to the ones that are good and you will have a great meal, worth every penny. My choices are the batter fried calamari, the soups are good and the pizza is the best in Chennai, No doubt!
The grilled chops are also very good and so is the lasagna. Be vary of some pasta's, they can be too bland but the gnocchi and ravioli are good. So is the pesto.

Overall a great place to slowly eat and chatter away.

PS: They are closed on Tuesdays.

• Best of burrp!
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