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Saturday 27 February 2016

3/5 Review – Roma Pisa Beach Road Candolim

On first impressions, Roma Pisa is a quant garden setting.  Tables set in a courtyard, twinkling lights in the tree and soft jazz paying.  Yes, I could have been in a rustic, county Italian restaurant.  However, did the food take my guests and I to Italy?

Menu
Seeing as the name states it is an Italian restaurant, I was so looking forward to seeing some of my favourite, Italian food, like steak Pizzaiola, braised beef in wine, or even some good old- fashioned Italian meatballs, like Mama Makes.  Therefore, I was somewhat surprised to see that the only Italian on offer was pasta or pizza.
The menu had a sizable selection of Goan, continental and a specials board that only seemed to be fish.
All in all, the menu items all seemed reasonably priced. 






Our Food
Oddly enough, when we came to order, my friend and I ordered the Chicken and mushroom cannelloni and our husbands the Beef Lasagne Al Forno.  Both couples ordered a green Salad, and a portion of garlic bread, to share.
 




Chicken and Mushroom Cannelloni 280 Rupees/ £2.93/ $4.07/€3.72/ ₽310.75
 Beef Lasagne Al Forno. 280 Rupees/ £2.93/$4.07/ €3.72/ ₽310.75

When our meals were placed in front of us, I have to say we all went WOW! A generous sized dish, with ample cheese topping.  However, I was a little confused as to why our cannelloni looked exactly the same as the men’s Lasagne.  I wasn’t disappointed, it all smelt so good and the cheese on the top looked so yummy and inviting we couldn’t wait to dig in.  Alas, when we cut through the layer of cheese and pasta expecting to see the béchamel sauce ooze into a rich Ragu Bolognese, all we saw was pan-fried chicken mince with mushroom, or in the men’s case plain pan-fried mince.  
The consensus around the table was, by no means were our cannelloni or Lasagne, authentic.  However, it tasted reasonable and filled our bellies, which is the main thing. 



Green Salad 100 Rupees / £1.05/ $1.45/€1.33/₽110.99
Firstly, it was not a green salad but more a garden salad. Plenty of onions, tomatoes and green pepper.  The lettuce, Oh dear, not only had it seen better days, brown and not a good taste it was more like a garnish. In my days of being a restaurant manager that would never have left my kitchen.   
 



Garlic Bread 50 Rupees / 0.52p/0.73 cents / €67/₽55.50
Yes, there was garlic all right, but the Goan bread rolls, too crispy for my liking.  What I could not understand was, why put three halves on there when they could have put four?  What really would have been nice that we talked about afterwards, was using their pizza oven to make a thin crust, garlic bread, pizza, so much better? 




Service.
Not bad, three serving staff running the restaurant seemed, also to be doing their own drinks as well as food service, not ideal when your restaurant is busy.   However, they all were pleasant.
Washroom
Just passable.  No paper towels, instead a towel that we all know in this day and age is so unhygienic. It was clear no one had checked the toilets pre service.

Would we go back?
Yes.  My party and I had an enjoyable night, we were able to relax in the nice surroundings and actually able to talk instead of shouting over the road noise or live music.  Food was good, if not authentic, prices fair to good.  It is well worth a visit.  Perhaps next time I would try the pizza.
 






Sadly I can only give 3/5 Chillies for Roma Pisa
This is an honest review from the meal and service I had on that evening.