Good Little Diva

This Sunday we had a craving for Italian food. With a six year old and a two year old in tow, dining at Diva would have been a bit inappropriate, so we landed at Café’ Diva (N-8, N Block Market, GK 1) which I was told was somewhere between a delicatessen and a restaurant.

The website says the restaurant opens at 11:30, but seeing someone mopping the steps at noon, I peeked in to ask if the place was open. Told it was open, we entered this small but cosy place, and occupied a comfortable table beside a large window. We were handed two menu cards, one of them listing things from dips like houmous and tzatziki to ravioli and grilled veggies for sale. Noticing boxes of Barilla pasta stacked at the counter, I asked the waiter if they too were for sale. I was told that they were for the kitchen. I did think Café’ Diva made fresh pastas. Just to give them the benefit of doubt, most boxes were of penne rigate and I didn’t see much penne on the menu. The ‘fresh or Barilla’ issue therefore remains unresolved. Anyway, we were there to dine-in and The dine-in menu is divided into small eats (starters), salads, big eats (main courses), pizza, pasta and Panini.

Smalls eats is a mix of middle eastern and Mediterranean flavours. Since our agenda was Italian and we were ravenous, we ordered a Panini (Grilled eggplant, haloumi cheese  and sundried tomatoes, 290), a pizza (Margharita, 330), a risotto (Pumpkin risotto), and a pasta dish (ricotta-parmesan filled ravioli tossed in Pesto, 430).

I had a choice of bread (Ciabatta, Focaccia, Arabic bread, or Whole-wheat) for my Panini and opted for focaccia. I was impressed by the freshness of the ingredients. While pumpkin risotto has gained popularity with the increasingly popular vegan fad, the concept has never appealed to me. I have to concede that Cafe’ Diva converted me. While the cheese stuffed ravioli tasted good, and the coarse ground pesto had the right texture, I felt the pesto lacked character. Our Margharita was good and I appreciated the conservative seasoning of the tomato sauce. It allowed the flavour of the tomato to come but some may find it bland. Also, while the base was thin and soft, and one could roll a slice of pizza as the Neapolitans do; it was too bland. A pizza base should be tasty enough to be eaten on its own just with a drizzle of olive oil (well, it’s almost the same dough as a foccacia), and this base definitely didn’t qualify.

We were too full for dessert but decided to share one portion of the gooey chocolate cake with vanilla custard, which was recommended by our waiter. While a bit steep at Rs. 230 for a portion, it was good in a way most things sweet and chocolaty are.

The bill came with a 10% Service charge added, and this service charge was marked under tips on the credit card slip. I appreciated this small gesture as many restaurants these days have an additional tip expectation in spite of levying high service charges. On the service front, I also liked how accommodating they were of kids (could be a deterrent for some).

I will be returning.

Meal for Two: 1800++
Address: N-8, N Block Market, Greater Kailash-1, New Delhi (+91-011-41011948)

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