Italian food has become a staple dining out option for Delhites in the past few years. Even for the kadi-chawal palatte, a pizza and pasta are not only palatable but well loved. Unlike the much talked about 'Indianized' Chinese available, Italian cuisine has manged to hold its roots, unless you count the extra large dose of table chilli flakes. Having said that, we stick to only pastas and pizzas and have assumed that that is all Italian cuisine consists of. Wrong!
Travertino @ The Oberoi is absolute food heaven for anyone who likes Italian food and is sick of the commercial tasting Dominoes, Pizza Hut and even the better options like La Piazza, Tonino and (my till now favourite) Big Chill! It is expensive, but its a fine dining experince and well worth the money spent.
It has a huge wine selection in a glass cellar with 12000 bottles. This adds to the decor and quite frankly is one of those things that draws you in. Once in, the service is brisk and efficient. The servers are happy to recommend both wines and courses. Trust me, if you aren't a foodie, well travelled, a chef or an avid masterchef follower you will need their help. The menu is creative but jargon heavy and doesn't have those descriptors we see in other restaurants making it almost impossible to understand half of the menu.
First up is the amuse-bouche. I've been to the restaurant thrice and the amuse-bouche is always a delight. On a previous occassion we were served a sweet purple grape covered in goat's cheese that popped with flavour. This time round was a scoop each of 3 types of melons with seasame seeds. It was fresh and the plating was gorgeous. We had a melon and ham salad, seared scallops, the caprese and grilled prawns for appetizers. They were all really light and fresh. For mains we had the mushroom pasta, polenta and red snapper. Their pastas are freshly made and the flavours are fresh and creative. The grilled red snapper was cooked to perfection and went fabulously with the tomato based sauce. Suprisingly, the vegetarian options were equally good. Desert was a disppointment both of times that I had it (the first time we had coffee). The caramel crisp was not crisp but chewy and the lemon tart was really tart and not balanced out by the wildberry campote or cream.
All in all the menu, ambience and service were all excellent. The wine recommended went beautifully with the meal. If you're looking for a quiet, even romantic dinner with excellent food then travertno is definitely a must do. Be sure you're flush though because this will burn a hole in your pocket.
