Italian fare Via Milano @ Koramangala, Bangalore.

'Via Milano' is a new addition to the Italian restaurants in Bangalore. It’s a stylish chic place done up in red, black and white. Located on the third floor next to Sony World in Koramangala, the place has some nice views.

We went there for dinner mid week - 2 nights ago and the place was full. It seemed to be a favorite with expats and quite a few people appeared to have dropped by after work.

Now on to my dining experience.

The two things that stand out in my mind are - the reasonable bill and one over-enthusiastic/pushy head waiter - who never waited on us. (Yeah... I seem to have this thing for waiters :)).

This particular head waiter was someone who had obviously spent a lot of time at the gym and dressed carefully to show off the effort - quite unusual and pleasing to the eye. What was absolutely terrifying was how over the top he was with waiting. He talked a lot, leaned a lot towards the table, and made far too many suggestions about what to eat or not.

We saw him working the nearby table and got so frightened that we quickly placed the order with the waiter who was perhaps supposed to just serve the food. He was quiet and did his job calmly and we were spared any overbearing hospitality.

The staff did seem a little flustered. That or perhaps something else, did not lend a completely relaxing atmosphere like say Fiorano ( another Italian place in Koramangala) does.

We had all courses - antipasti, pasta, fish for main course and a dessert. Unfortunately, we aren’t great fans of delightfully healthy food so we found the antipasti selection disappointing - what with most being lettuce or green leafy based. The chicken tortellini and red snapper for main course were both well made - except that the sauces were a trifle too salty.

We mentioned this to another hovering waiter and he replied, "I tell them in the kitchen to be generous with food and they add extra salt". And a prompting smile. We lamely smiled back. Sheesh!

Anyways, that apart, Via Milano has an well stocked bar and like most restaurants around town - they too have the irritating habit of getting only one bar menu and chauvinistically handing it over to the man at the table! Like women can't read and choose their own drinks. bah! :(

The dessert was quite ordinary - a rum cake with some fruit and orange custard.

The final bill presented - for 2 bottles of Cobra beer and a complete meal for two at about RS1500/- was very pleasant indeed.

In terms of actual menu selection and food quality, I still prefer my experiences at Sunny's (on Lavelle Road) while Y says he likes Little Italy (in Indranagar) better.

But Via Milano is a nice place; particulary ideal for a business lunch. Though Via Milano is quite not there yet - in terms of an overall complete rounded experience, it is value for money. Go try it sometime.