I thought of visiting this place from time to time but never actually went as it didn’t have any nice reviews. Almost everyone had majorly negative things to say about this place but what really impressed me was that the owner/founder of this place was asking for genuine feedback for this place and was assuring them that things had changed over the time. His passion for restaurant reflected very prominently in his responses here. I thought everyone makes mistakes in the initial days of the restaurant so they must have improved by now.
So today I decided to visit this place along with someone special and find out myself what it had to offer. Read on to find out the ugly truth.
When I called up to make reservations I was told that AC section is closed and the open air section is really nice which I promptly agreed upon. We entered the place and occupied this table but very soon we realized it was really hot over there. We asked the water if there was a better table with fan around it, he pointed towards this corner table for two on which trees planted around the walls were drooping upon, irrespective of which we decided to sit there as we saw a fan was there to our rescue but which was of no help. As we sat we realized it was still hot since the fan was probably throwing air to this table next to us which was previously occupied. We were offered menu on asking for it and we started to look into it. We decided to order for Mozzarella fritters as starters, Spaghetti Arrabiata for main course and one Budweiser. We were asked if we wanted to order any garlic bread along with pasta to which we very clearly said yes. We were served with some five six thin breadsticks along with three dips till our order arrived. They were really nice and I was enjoying them just about when the order arrived and the guy decided to pick them up and take them away while I was eating them. I told him that I still wanted to eat them; he said okay and still took them away. I kept on shouting “excuse me, excuse me” but he never looked back. (I think his motto was to always look ahead and never look back in life, quite literally). And It goes without saying the starters have to be served before the main course but it all came at once all together (Starters + Main course) MINUS the garlic bread which never came (It didn’t bother us much and we decided to give it a pass). Now the fritters were really delicious loaded with cheese and honestly the only word which can be used for them is yummy. The pasta was very bad. I have never had a bland arrabiata, it was tasteless, and the only thing that tasted good in it was broccoli (honestly). I must mention that portions are quite good as one starter and one main course is quite enough for two people. During our meals we realized there was a rat about to climb on our neighbours feet which we bought to their notice and the lady at the table screamed as she wasn’t very pleased to see this added attraction. In the meanwhile we finished with our food and ordered for blueberry cheese cake which was served to us after asking for it twice BUT was very nicely presented and tasted equally good. So we called for cheque which arrived quicker than everything else which was the final dent. While the cheque came I decided to visit the loo and saw that AC section was open and a lot of people were sitting there which was a shocker as mentioned in the beginning we were told it’s not functional. But moving on, the cheque arrived and it turned out to be approximately Rs 1000 out of which about 200 were taxes and additional charges. Till date this has been the only place where I noticed VAT on the food too. The food and beverage ordered were under 800 but the 12.5 % VAT on Food and Beverage + 25% VAT on Liquor + 10% Service charges increased it by 200 Rs so that’s almost 25% on everything irrespective of food or Beverage. Also I had no idea where to include in my review that the cushions on the chair were dirty and faded.
To cut the long story short (Rating on the scale of 1 to 5).
Food: **1/2
Ambience: **
Service: *
Quantity: ****
Hygiene: **
P.S. Can be easily missed, there are much better options out there for Italian food and there is nothing great about this place other than burning a hole in your pocket as it’s a pricey affair.
prateekagrawal
Replied by: Aalok Purohit, on Jun 07, 2011 Flag this
Apologies for the mess....Let me assure u ....we are back with bang & a whole new team of chefs, service, ambience, hygiene factors,
Wont go on with the list but wud request u to come once anonymously to Molto once again.....
Just a request..
Aalok P
9819421304
Replied by: prateekagrawal, on Jun 07, 2011 Flag this
I am glad like always you have made it a point to reply to review. All these things have been assured by you time and again.Yet I trust you with what you say but honestly i don't want to risk my hard earned money again. May be when i have enough extra money to risk with, i will definitely turn up anonymously and if I have a good experience i will definitely share it here. Other than overpriced food, the taxes are murderous enough at your place. I wish you all the best and hope your restaurant improves and you do well as you are a hardworking guy. :)
Sincere Regards,
Prateek