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.

Tchi - Good food and that's about it.

Tchi is a Chinese/Thai restaurant tucked away in a quiet interesting corner of Queen's Road - Edwards road in Bangalore. Its a house converted to a restuarant.

I have been there three times now. The very first was just two days after it opened. The bar was not yet functional.

The service was a bit tacky - 'perhaps because of the newness/earnestness ', I thought. The most noticeable factor was that - the waiter doesnt rest till he has hounded you multiple times to take the maincourse order - after you have ordered the soup. The funny thing is - this repeated itself all 3 times!

The food was delicious. Priced a little above average, the portions were very satisfactory and preparations very tasty and balanced in flavors.

The second time around again - great food and tacky service. The head waiter wouldn't rest till he forced out a complete order from us and another waiter spilled wine on our tablecloth. Minor glitches I suppose - but the stuff that separate the classy from mediocre is what I would say.

This third time last month was the worst - their valet service was not present because 'the boys have gone for parcel delivery'!

This time around, they had some extremely bad acoustic live music. Seriously, the place could just do with some soft instrumental music in the back ground.

Of course - the usual: great food and off service.

What finished my experience with Tchi was they way they dealt with the bill. Suddenly, they were not able to accept credit or debit cards! Their 'server' was apparently down. We paid up a bill of Rs 2000+ in cash - rather unexpectedly and headed out looking for an ATM to replenish our cash reserves to last for the weekend.

To conclude. like my title says - good food and thats about it.

And frankly, Bangalore has such a vibrant eating out culture, I could easily give Tchi a miss and not notice it at all for the rest of my eating out here.

And thats what I am going to do. :)