The FB of Bangalore's Restaurants has become an interesting forum where the members express their frank opinions on almost all things restaurant related. Through the several interactions, it has become clear that a number of franchise based restaurants seemed to have lost their earlier touch. Case in point here being Casa Piccola. At one time around six years ago, Casa Piccola was the only place to head to for Euro food. Branches that really stood out were the Residency road branch and the Cunningham road one (personally loved both). Koramangala too was fair enough, but I was never comfortable there.

Anyways, Jayanagar too got a Casa Piccola around 4 years ago. I remember going there in the first month of its opening. The experience was not too good then and we attributed it to teething trouble. The ambiance though was something we really loved - one part had a low seating arrangement with bean bags right next to French windows overlooking the ever busy 3rd block area. The other was the regular wooden table and chair affair. Murals and kitchenware based decor elements all looked spic and span. At that point, there were announcements put up on the opening of a pub area on the next floor. Anoushka was born four months after this visit and so we never got around to visiting the pub.

Now, four years on, we decided to give the place a shot. When we entered, everything looked the same except the wear and tear was a bit obvious. Where the notice board once held the announcement for the opening of the bar, it now had one which said "we regret to announce the closure of the bar area." Hmmm

Since there was no current, the air conditioning was non-functional and so we shifted from the bean bags to a table that was right below the fan. The menu at this Casa Piccola had all the classic dishes characteristic of the place and then some more. The finger foods and nibbles are extensive considering that they once catered to tipplers. For starters we decided to have the Cilantro prawns and the Spicy Chicken strips.

Now, when you are in Euro restaurant you expect dishes to be European in nature. I hardly found any difference between Cilantro Prawns and the Spicy Chicken strips in terms of mixes. I can best describe it as the red colored Shanti Sagar paneer masala mix. The Cilantro prawns has no cilantro but spring onions instead. Both the dishes also had a load of onion slices, again a Shanti Sagar version of Indo-Chinese food. Don't get me wrong, when you head to a Shanti Sagar, that is what you expect to land on your table. But when you are at a Euro restaurant, you wonder whether they ordered out from next door and placed it on your table. Oh yes... another thing, I know leaving the tail on prawns is a nice thing. But it really isn't so when you have prawns that are coated in batter and fried. And I found more shell than needed.

Cilantro Prawns

We next decided to have a salad. This was one of the many things we used to like in Casa Piccolas of yore. We asked for a Nicose Salad with Tuna. Now the classic Nicose salad is supposed to be put together on a flat dish and comprises boiled eggs, peppers, potatoes, some veggies and tuna. The dressing is supposed to be a simple vinaigrette one.

The salad we were served had all the ingredients, but the egg was boiled a while ago (as early as a day before, it was all crinkled and rubbery), there was yellow and green peppers and the tuna was the packaged stuff, flakes from a tin. What was not needed were the fresh onion rings. The dressing was a light mayo with some ground pepper. Altogether a dish we wished we hadn't ordered.

The main courses were Chicken Parmigiani was Sudhakar and a Grilled fish in lemon butter sauce for me. The Chicken Parmigiani followed all the right principles, breaded chicken cutlets that had been fried, with a tomato sauce drizzled on it along with some cheese and baked till the cheese had melted. But the final dish that landed on the table was a chicken fillet that seemed to have been microwaved with some tomato sauce on top and some cheese mixed into it. The dish was not really palatable and Sudhakar ended up leaving it almost as is.

Not too say that visit was a total disaster, the french fries that Anoushka had were done well. I mean you can't really mess up pre-packaged fries. Also the Strawberry Soda Pop and the Strawberry milkshake we had were really nice. So much so that the Strawberry Soda Pop warranted a repeat order.

French fries

Overall, was really really disappointed with the meal. Especially since we had to shell out Rs 1100. The manager did ask us why we left the food and we did tell him what we thought. The only thing he could say is that the food has been made according to the recipe. He was not wrong, but simply following a recipe does not guarantee an excellent meal. The loos need major maintenance work in terms of basics like flushes and lighting.

Address: Gentry Plaza, Near Boots Showroom, Jayanagar 4th Block, Bangalore - 560080

Phone: 40894999

Cuisine: Euro

Cards Accepted: Yes

Parking: Nothing exclusive, can be difficult