Ed: This review may not reflect current reality. Based on incoming feedback from multiple customers, it is possible the words in this review will not hold good today.
28 Capri Italy is a brand new Italian restaurant that’s been opened in the same space as Little Italy in Defence Colony. The journey to the restaurant is a little tiring, what with no lift operational, but once you’re there, it’s quite a neat place. 28 Capri Italy has two floors of seating with a total of 50 covers. Floor 1 is fine dining and floor 2 resembles a 70′s cafe. The cafe layout is quite neat IMO and I love the yellowing plastic matting on the chairs. I guess I say the same thing whenever I see the stuff. While the first floor is done very well, I’d hazard a guess and say it’s been optimised for number of covers first and aesthetics second. Then again, commercial compulsions do exist. Booze is available on both floors BTW.
Our starters comprised Involtini and Funghi alla Trapnese. I’m not very sure about the Involtini or more accurately, mini Involtini – little pieces of flattened chicken bread, stuffed with cheese and herbs, skewered with a toothpick and pan fried, each one a bit smaller than my little finger. They tasted vaguely peppery, slightly smoky, had a fair bit of bite and were slightly cheesy. Interesting I’d say, but not overwhelming. the mushrooms on the other hand were delicious. Whole mushrooms, lightly pan fried with some flavors in the pan and then sprinkled with fresh black pepper and herbs, served with toasted bread. The mushrooms were juicy, tangy, mushroomy, crunchy and absolutely delicious!
We sampled two soups at 28 Capri Italy – tomato and mushroom. The tomato soup was iffy – slightly sweet with un-toasted croutons and under-flavored. The mushroom soup was nice, but it too could have used a little more intensity in the flavor. Our salad courses were a Caesar and a Greek salad. The Caesar salad was par for the Delhi course – it passed muster, but didn’t use the right lettuce. It did taste good nonetheless and the Greek salad too was nice. Going on to the Pizza – we tried the 28 Capri Italy All Chicken and Sicillia pizzas. Both had a thin, crunchy crust, were low fat and low salt and had excellent flavors.
The Pasta courses were where 28 Capri Italy excelled. Looks, taste and overall execution were splendid, though a little rich for my taste. We tried their Ravioli, which was stuffed with spinach and ricotta and smothered in a creamy, slightly chili hot sauce with red chili peppers and olives. It was the kind you would close your eyes and slowly chew into to savor every bit of the creaminess of the filling, the texture of the pasta and the flavor of the sauce. Delicious, to say the least. We also tried their four cheese penne and spinach and mushroom Lasagna, both of which were superb, with just the right amount of bite in the pasta and very complimentary flavors surrounding them. I will say though, all three pasta dishes were quite rich in their use of flavors and cheeses. So, while you will definitely enjoy them as is, I recommend ordering another dish to complement their richness and use of flavor – mushrooms or a lamb dish for example.
Finally, we dug into portions of their desserts – Tiramisu and a Chocolate Bomb. The Tiramisu was one of the best I have ever eaten. If you’re walking past or shopping in Defence Colony, do drop into 28 Capri Italy, if only for the unparalleled Tiramisu. The Chocolate bomb was a very thin and delicate chocolate flavored flour crust stuffed to the gills with hot and creamy chocolate that pours out in rivers the moment you puncture the crust. Too rich for me, but I’m sure all you chocolate lovers will enjoy it!
Did I mention the folks at 28 Capri Italy let you pop into the kitchen to make your own pizzas?
To conclude 28 Capri Italy is well worth a visit. Friends, family or business – it’ll rise to all occasions.
- Sid
PS: Sorry about the photos. They have this weird lighting in there that wreaked havoc on my white balance.
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Brits say Indians only eat curry! I find the arrays of different cuisines available in Delhi quite amazing. I had no idea about the multicultural cuisines of Delhi until I started reading your site. Just shows how much of my time was wasted in India during my travel, I did not sample any of these at all. However, all these restaurant’s are on my list now for the next visit. I am looking at arranging a gourmet tour of India for about twenty Brits. I am sure Sid would be a great asset in arranging for best eateries, given his fantastic reviews.
As regards the Italian restaurant it owned by Italians – Italian cooks or is it Indian owned
and local chefs who have mastered Italian Cooking. Has Sonia Gandhi been to this restaurant?
I love Tiramisu – five years ago I sent an email to a friend of mine in Italy to find me accommodation. He wrote back saying that he was going to states for five weeks. I could have his house provided I watered his garden daily. Deal was done. I lived for five weeks in
Aaricha which is one hour by train from Rome. I had Tiramisu daily – one day one of the cafe owners invited me to watch him make Tiramisu. I now do mine with good measure of
Tia Maria liqueur. We also have ” Kenya Gold” coffee based liquor. Though I am not keen on Pasta or spaghetti – I love Italian foods and could live on Chianti. In the village, I just used to go the farms to fill up a five litre container with wine from farms. This area is particularly popular for rectangular Pizzas. I had aubergine Pizza for the first time here.
Thanks for sharing Italian experiance Sid.
.-= karam´s last blog ..Gay Pride festival 2008 Manchester =-.
Karam, you sure are making me envious…..I used to feel good about my food experiences during travel, but you seem to have had a lot more fun. Only thing is that after reading your bit about Tia Maria, I thought I soaked my sponge fingers in tia maria as well (though diluted).
(Before you think, I am your guide for India trip, here’s the disclaimer – I am not Sid, the chef at large…I am the ‘Siddhartha Siddhu’ from Facebook..Sid and I have been having this identity confusion since I started posting on his site! )
@Karam: Echoing Siddharth’a comment – you have travelled a fair bit and had some interesting culinary experiences. A few more and you’ll have me out on the road!
@Sid n’ @Siddhartha – No identity crisis here – I knew you both are different individuals.
I have seen your photos on Delhi culinary tour – unmistakable “Sid” towering above everyone.
I have travelled extensively in Greece and Greek Islands – After my degree – I had six months gap which I filled by island hopping in the Aegean Sea. Went to mainland Greece and then just ferry’s to different islands, literally hopping from one island to another. After Agean sea to Iona sea to large islands of Cephalonia and Xyanthos. Two reasons for travel were, firstly – Greek Gods used to be my heroes in my young days. So I wanted to see their places of Births. Secondly, I love Greek food – for grand culinary experience plus of course Greek Wines – they drink red wine chilled as at room temperature it’s undrinkable in Mediterranean heat.
With Sid’s permission – I would like to send resturant reviews of UK resturants
Half way through the trip, I ran out of money – So had to work as Barman, cook or door man soliciting tourist Brits to restaurant. It was like being a pimp! I still drink chilled Italian Chianti wine.
For six months I ate Greek food. Except in Cephalonia – I met a Pakistani family in the town; they owned a rose farm in the mountains. I was invited for a meal – Unimaginable experience – amidst mountains – eating methi chicken with home made Nan’s and listening to Nusrat fateh Ali Khan.
My favorite Greek dish remains – Kleftico. It means stolen lamb. In the day’s bygone, bandits stole lamb – stuffed it with herbs and feta cheese– dug a trench – put charcoal in it and placed the lamb in it. Covered it with leaves and soil so no smoke was emitted to arouse authorities. It infect was a crude oven.
Now the dish is made in ovens – I could live on it. See recipe at http://realgreekrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/greek-lamb-kleftiko.html
Slowly people will figure out that the Siddhartha who was the guide on the Jama Masjid and neighbourhood trip of really cheap food is me, while the Siddhartha who dines at all fine dining places like Amici and the likes is CaL…so the poor Sidhartha and the rich Sid
I visited Capri Italy after reading your review – only to have the worst dining experience in a long time. We ordered the mushrooms you’ve recommended as well as chicken with pasta in white wine sauce. While the mushrooms were nothing to write home about, the pasta was downright bad- rubbery, and not particularly tasty. For this (and a glass of Tropicana orange juice), we had to cough up nearly 900 bucks. And if this wasn’t bad enough, I was violently sick the next day. I’m definitely never setting foot inside Capri Italy again. And will think twice about trusting food blogs when scouting for dining options.
PS- The service was fine, n the staff courteous, etc but the exhaustion from throwing up early in the morning makes all that redundant
I’m sorry to hear that. Will feature your comment in the review as an update and forward it to the owner too. Get well soon.
@ Disappointed diner-srry that u had a very bad experience at the restaurant, but i have been visiting the restaurant regularly since the past 6 months n we relish the food. it actually takes me bak to italy, where i spent most of my childhood. Plus, paying 900 for an entree and a main wid a soft drink is not that bad for a fine dining restaurant. No hard feelings, but i like this place, and would advice u to visit it once again in the future, if u really think that ur throwing up was because of bad food.
CHEERS!!!
@Disappointed dinner. Food can vary from one day to another or from month to month in the same restaurant. Perhaps when the review was done – it was good day. Personally, I would be weary of Indian staff cooking in an Italian restaurant perhaps owned by an Indian.
It might be good idea to send the original and disappointed review to the restaurant owners for comment. I notice Sid has already written that he will forward the comments,
lets see the outcome.
I have full sympathy with you – nothing worst then a dinning experience being ruined by a dodgy food.
Thanks guys.. I’m impressed with the prompt responses! I hope the restaurant is half as prompt in setting things right.
@Karam I agree that restaurants do have their bad days.. unfortunate that I had visited on one! Especially when i’d been really looking forward to trying out a new place, etc etc Sigh!
The owner of 28 Capri Italy called me today and he sounds like someone who’s genuinely concerned and wants to set things right… He has offered to send food over, so that I can give Capri another chance, which I’m willing to, considering his concern and the other positive reviews on this blog… Will update tomorrow
@Kenny Baxter I decided to try Capri because of people like you who had posted positive comments about the restaurant, which was why I was doubly disappointed. And I agree that 900 is quite reasonable for a fine dining experience, provided that’s what it is
@disappointed diner- m8, fr u, i recommend sunfeast pasta @ home….
ENJOY
@kenny: two offensive comments in a row. you’re banned.
So, went to (Desi) Italian restaurant Capri this week in Def.Col and was baffled by the fact that they covered their so called bruschetta with chilies! Really?? And how one manages to fabricate such tasteless pizza’s with a ‘plastic’ substance they called prosciutto is beyond my imagination.. If you’re looking for authentic Italian food this is the place to avoid! Sorry, but this is really bad food..