Grande Fabio's - Review

Amongst the madness of QSRs cropping up every day, I came across this refreshingly new indigenous concept- QSR pasta and more….

I was apprehensive about the whole thing initially, I mean reducing pasta to QSR? How’d that work! But it didn’t just work; it was fabulous- as my experience proved yesterday. Launched in the bustling Def-Col market is Grande Fabio, they make your pasta in 90 seconds flat. The format is similar to that of Subway and other American QSRs- easy work flow: customisation as per choice and taste, quick service and easy billing for all you’ve picked up. There are basically three different counters- one for the food where you can pick up your pasta and/ or salad with the choice of toppings and sauces, another for the drinks and desert and a coffee machine. As they’ve just opened, they are also refining there processes. The place while being exquisitely done follows a largely minimalistic, red and white theme, giving it a compact, non-fussy look and feel. This makes you focus on the food and so moving ahead with the QSR pastas...

I asked for my favourite spaghetti aglio olio(Rs109) first. To make it a little elaborate I requested mine to be topped by another Italian favourite, sundried tomatoes.One spoon-full of the pasta proved that this express pasta was no lesser than the ones served in any fine dine restaurant. Penne in arrabiata sauce was generously topped with broccoli, mushrooms and was very satisfying. Gnocchi for me fared really well- the basil, garlic and gnocchi all smothered in really good tomato basil sauce was impressive. Although it slightly lacked the tenderness of a fresher version, the combination and blend of flavours succeeded in delighting my palate. The full flavoured sauce makes this one a complete knockout. Rounding up the mains, the spinach and mushroom made for the ultimate ravioli filler smeared with a creamy pesto sauce bursting with flavours. As if that was not all, there was the Tiramisu which was value for money (199) and Belgian chocolate mousse (99) which was gooey, chocolatey and all things nice.

With every dish costing under 200-300, this is a quick economical and yet tasty offering to the city’s culinary scene. Kudos to Raminder bakshi, culinary expert for this venture who’s executed this difficult concept successfully. While this is the first outlet, there will be more very soon- as per the passionate group of guys behind Grande Fabio.