Darios Pune is known for good Italian/ Sicilian food. I have held off writing a review of this restaurant for a long time. The main reason is my first experience three years ago wasn’t great. It was two years before I ventured there again, mostly because another Pune Blogger had a positive review. But the blogger I mention gives everyone a positive review! I prefer to be critical and say it like it is. Isn’t that the whole purpose of writing a review?

I have visited the Koregaon Park location as well as the one in Amanora Park. I had different experiences. The latest verdict is that portion sizes have reduced drastically – to less than half, which doesn’t bode well. The so called ‘gourmet’ ingredients have almost disappeared and are more like a garnish in the dish. The positive part is that ingredients are fresh and the taste is good, although on the spicier side for me. I prefer my pasta al dente rather than well done – I wonder if this is part of their ‘localization’. In general, salads are not seasoned and other dishes are slightly high on seasoning.

I am going to narrate some of my experiences and then sum up.

First visit to Koregaon park location for brunch on a Saturday morning three years ago – after being seated, no one came to greet us or take our order. After about 20 minutes and multiple requests for service, we were handed a menu. Our order was taken some time later, after which the server disappeared. After waiting a long time again, we just left. No one tried to stop us or even ask us what the matter was. Point to note – a lot of tables of foreigners who were smoking in the courtyard had been served during this time. So the kitchen was functioning after all!

Visit to Koregaon park location – Ravioli was ordered. A bit scanty on the filling and soft, the sauce was tasty, although somewhat ‘saucy’ like a residual curry or masala. This might be personal preference, but I prefer my pasta dressed just enough to coat, and not like an Indian curry. After all, it is not Paneer Masala, is it?

Visit to Amanora Park – a fantastic Caesar salad, loaded with Parmesan shavings that provided ample salad to three people. Low on seasoning, but good nevertheless! Tortellini was low on the stuffing and a tad overcooked for my taste with a liquid and spicy sauce.

Visit to Koregaon Park last week – Salad serving size drastically reduced with hardly any Parmesan. Pasta serving size was also dismal. There were 2-3 tiny broccoli florets in a pasta that was supposed to have broccoli and mushrooms. Also, the server asked us if we wanted mushrooms, then asked us if we really wanted mushrooms!!

Pizza with pecorino and pineapple appeared. Since pineapple was the only veggie topping and we love pineapple, we were looking forward to seeing a pizza loaded with pineapple. But we had to play a game of Spot that Pineapple!! Now a can of Del Monte pineapple costs 100-120 and has at least 6 good slices, and the pizza costs around 500 bucks! I don’t think they used even a single slice of pineapple on the whole pizza!

My neighborhood local Pizza shop can set the bar for how pizza toppings should be.

 

Point to Note – After our pasta was served, there was a foreign body found in it. The captain person appeared flummoxed. I had to request that they remove the plate. After seeing no activity or communication for 5-10 minutes, I had to summon him and request that they replace the dish. Now this is funny. He brought back exactly the amount that was left on the dish when he took it away, never mind that we couldn’t eat the earlier stuff at all because of the thing in it.

This was very disappointing because I expected the management to apologize in some manner and make it up to us. At the least, they should have been proactive in replacing the order – without worrying about how much they put on the plate.

And yes, please don’t be stingy with the bread! We will pay for it, but don’t just nod your head and then ignore requests for more bread.

Overall, I think the pasta dishes at Darios Pune could be more al dente, and light on the sauce. And servers need to understand the wishes of the customers.

If someone orders a pizza without cheese, please don’t pester them to add an extra mozzarella topping. The customer can read! They are ordering that for a reason, and maybe such a pizza is on the menu for a reason. It is possible that people somewhere in the world prefer not to eat a pizza loaded with cheese. It could be a choice, or lactose intolerance, or someone on a diet, or just because.

Similarly, don’t ask people if they are sure they want spaghetti and not penne. And then nudge them toward ordering penne. And enough with the mushrooms!!

I hope the owners realize that customers who pay over two thousand for a lunch for two people (without drinks, desserts or appetizers) expect and deserve a certain level of service. That includes hygienic food with good portion sizes and global standards in taste.

I hope someone at Darios is listening.