I associate Italian food with comfort food. All popular Italian dishes are easy to make and have such beautiful flavours using basic, simple ingredients. Freshness of the ingredients is a must for good Italian food. Imagine succulent red tomatoes with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese doused with extra virgin olive oil and basil pesto! Heaven! I'm still search of a place which serves fresh mozzarella as opposed to the processed ones used everywhere in Hyderabad (and in India also?).
Peperoncino caught my eye as it was a new Italian entrant on the Hyderabad food scene. They have a dedicated Italian menu and they opened very close to my then house, so I couldn't not try it. It didn't disappoint.
They have a view! The restaurant is on the 4th floor with one side facing the vast Masab Tank. It's not an exotic lake or skyscraper view but I like aerial views so this worked for me. They also serve water in colourful glass bottles - I like!
We started with a basic tomato-basil bruschetta. Crusty bread moist with extra virgin olive oil and topped with fresh tomatoes mixed with basil pesto and parmesan cheese. All the tastes were fresh and subtle. None of the ingredients overpowered each other, and complimented each other well. They have other toppings as well that you can try - avocado, mozzarella, chicken, crabs, prawns and prosciutto.
We also had their mixed green salad as a side. The leaves could have been crispier but they didn't bad taste. They also added arugula which one usually doesn't find often in leaf salads in Hyderabad, although they are gradually being featured in more places. The lemon dressing was tangy with a hint of basil. We added a helping of some mild parmesan cheese (because we love parmesan). It was actually too mild for a strong cheese like parmesan, probably because it wasn't the crumbly type I've had before which has a stronger flavour. But it's a nice touch.
We also ordered their herbed polenta as a side. Though too big a portion for a side, it was tasty. Creamy polenta with the classic Italian seasoning of oregano, parsley and thyme.
To drink we ordered the watermelon and mint aqua fresca and the cucumber virgin mojito. Pretty looking, eh? They were refreshing too. The watermelon and mint aqua fresca was minty fresh watermelon juice and not too sweet. The cucumber mojito was a basic mojito with lemon, mint and soda with cucumber flavoured syrup. Again no overpowering tastes in the beginning but got sweeter as it reached half full.
We ordered their thin crust fungi pizza for main course. Lovely base - firm yet soft and crunchy crust. As named, mushrooms (button and shiitake) stole the show. At first I couldn't figure out the different taste the pizza sauce had, which by the way had a rich tomato-ey taste, and then realised the shiitake mushroom had lent its taste to the sauce. The olives were a good add to enhance the dish . If you like thin crust pizza, try Peperoncino's.
This was the only disappointment of the lunch. Since we love cheesecake, we ordered their ricotta cheesecake. I was excited to see how ricotta would taste in a cheesecake. Instead of the creamy filling which I expected, we got a cold, hard piece of plain cheesecake with berry coulis. The crust was soggy and indistinguishable. And the cheese filling was crumbly and cold (the not nice, won't-melt-in-your-mouth cold). I didn't like the texture at all. We should have stuck to the safe chocolate lava cake.
All in all, this is a good place for some decent Italian fare. They have a long way before they become like Little Italy but not a bad alternate either. It's classic Italian food which isn't too heavy on the pocket. They also serve non-vegetarian Italian food. The menu includes a good number of dishes with beef and pork, so works for all!
Cost for 2: Rs.1000
Taste: 7/10 - Dessert let me down.
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 8/10
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