First of all, a dozen hugs to Pooja, who recommended this place. And we all, the hungry bozos that we are, were all “Yeah, why not”. Cafe Italiano is a spunky, cluttered, uncafe-like cafe that we decided to “grace” with our noisy presence. I initially thought that this was a bistro with air conditioning and waiters who’d wear uniforms and hand you menu cards. Oh boy. It was cute, but slightly run down shack with self service and only about a few people at the counter. But then most of the foodies had given it a 4.00 on Zomato and that totally intrigued me. That meant there was something more to it, beneath all the drab facade. Checking out restaurants is a lot like checking out people. < Puns intended.

So, in we strolled and snatched a couple of menus and got down to deciding what to order. That sucks, ’cause I don’t order A dish for myself. I like to get three. And maybe a dessert. And maybe a frappe in the end. I cannot thank my stars enough for having Deepshikha around. Others may raise eyebrows and what not, but she’d never. It’s all casual for her. Like, I say “I’m going to go get 6 packets of chips and 25 cupcakes, be right back”, she goes, all unblinkingly “Haan, me too, hold on, I’ll join you”. She and Srushti already know that it IS possible to eat whatever you like, whenever you like, sweat it out and that they all go so well together. Much love.

Back to the topic, Cafe Italiano looks a little run down, but that is the only minus point to it. Because when the food starts coming, in the form of well-toasted fat sandwiches, subs so stuffed with goodness that they look like they’ve been fed with steroids and botox, cold coffees with royal treatment you forget all the little blemishes that the cafe may have. And then you dig into the food. And dig in some more.

I think it’s safe to say that five of us ordered ALMOST everything on the menu. It was a shame that the brownies weren’t available or we would have piled them on to the list too. Out of everything, I loved the sandwiches.Toasted to perfection, stuffed with happiness and made the best crispy noise as you bit into one.And let me tell you, Cafe Italiano does not hold back. Oh no, the sandwiches are stuffed till they are bursting and they come with very sophisticated tomato and mustard squiggles on the side. Everything else was sumptuous. It was a good day, with the erratic rain and shine, competition launches, meeting friends and talking all kinds of “bullseeet” with the other friends. Food blogs aren’t food blogs without food, so here it is.