Karthik Ganapathi - The Chennai Food Blog : Darios Restaurant Cafe http://http://www.eatwitheyes.com/2013/05/Darios-Chennai.html

One of the best vegetarian fine-dine Restaurants in Chennai city - located in Kasturi Rangan Road, Poes Garden. Right from the hilarious Mona Lisa theme bases pictures that welcomes you at the restaurant to the indoor/outdoor seating and setting - this place is a winner! I usually don\'t experiment with food here (need to in future visits) and always end up ordering Hot Chocolate to the Carduni Pizza (my favorite) to the Delightful Desserts - be it Panacotta, Mousse and Cheescake . Add to it the ambiance and decor; plus the service is spot on at the restaurant. The place to hang out with friends and family. Love going here again and again !!!

A very happy and memorable lunch at Darios's last weekend! Tried quite a lot of dishes. Lentil balls, rice balls, pan fried mushroom with garlic and chillies, pizza, risotto, gnocchi.. Very delicious and filling.. Followed by some fine tiramisu and sinful panna cotta. Couldn't resist taking a panna cotta home to eat later! Fast service and great ambience with perfect lighting. A very pleasant dining experience! No wonder we need to book a table in advance! Hats off to the CEO, Mr. Suresh Cumar for attending to each and every table to ensure that his customers are happy! Dario's will never let you down! PS: The picture attached was clicked the first time I visited there, that was about a month ago.

Corporate Lunch meal- “Oh no I have just under an hour and a half to squeeze in a lunch before the next meeting begins” seems to have become the phrase that every corporate executive utters. But then, going to a restaurant, ordering food, waiting for the food to arrive, enjoying it and making it back to the office or meeting venue is always a dicey situation. This is why these Coporate lunch deals are awesome! They are total value for money, quite extensive and filling as well. There I was at Dario’s, my newest favouritest [yes, I cooked up that word] restaurant. It is an all veg Italian restaurant that is just about 6 months old and has me hooked. The food is simply amazing, and they have managed to maintain the standards as well. Sometime back they introduced a special menu for 3pm to 7pm slot. There are people who waltz in expecting something to eat, but then the kitchen is just taking a break before they gear up for dinner service. So, these guys have launched a special menu consisting of simple sandwiches and pizzas for this zone during the day. And now they are back with this new offer. When I met Suresh Cumar, he mentioned that the corporate lunch deal has just been rolled out and the response has been quite promising. Nice! read more... http://aromasofkitchens.blogspot.in/2013/06/the-corporate-lunch-at-darios.html

Going here a 2nd time, and simply loved the food and service. The grilled veg salad with a generous dash of olive oil and the minestrone soup hit the spot. The lasagne was brilliant. The complimentary bread that was served was warm and the basil dip was a big hit with the partner.

What was I doing in a vegetarian Italian restaurant? That too in a brand new one without any reviews to boast of? There was a time when Chennai Food Guide used to wonder if there are not enough restaurants in Chennai for us to review. The tables have turned and how!!!!! There have been more new restaurants in Chennai than ever before and so as part of the tasting group, here we were!!!!!! The ambiance is amazing. Nice semi outdoor setting, is a great cafe and it is a place perfect to take your book and read with a coffee or write your next big story types!!! And as we found out later, the food was just as good too! The salads and starters came together for some photo clicking. After all the photo clicking and letting food get reasonably cold, we devoured them. The FUNGI DARIOS, a roast mushroom with nice Italian flavours was a good start to the meal, the one with a long Italian name, which I cannot retype, but it is a Spinach Greens Cheese balls - tasted just perfect! The Sicilian Platter and the Bruchetta platter were all nice and smooth - I loved the cream cheese used on one of the breads! The salads were too salady for my liking and I did not like the way it was presented and all of them had way too many leaves. If my previous post suggest anything, it is that salads can be made tasty, but here, it was not. Rest of the post here........ http://http://www.chennaifoodie.com/2013/02/what-was-i-doing-in-vegetarian-italian.html

Dario's is a great address to enjoy Veg Italian Cusine in Chennai, made available to experience thanks to Nishant and CFG team. The pick of the lot from the set Menu served exclusive to us included Assorted Bruchettas for starters ( especially ones with the Olive tepanade), The Warm Mix Veg Salad ( Verdure Grigalate) followed by d Thin Crest Spicy Strombolis ( Italian Pizza with mozarella, red chilli and sundried tomatoes).Of the many varities of Risottos sampled ,the stand out artist wasFusili Vitale- tastes great with garlic, tomato and mushrooms.Then followed the erupting chocolate. I will any day choose and recommend the sprawling Dario's forits premium fine dining ambience (with access to exclusive family area ) and the warm hospitality. The fact that it is eggless and totally vegetarian may not work for a few, but diehard veggies like me will only look for the next available oppurtunity for a second helping. The next special occassion in my diary - I clearly know of a great place to indulge and try the unlimited options in their menu !

8th Std student Sandhya Varadhrajan reviews Dario\'s Cafe, Poes Garden. http://sandhya.varadh.com/2013/01/darios-in-chennai.html

Went to Dario's, Italian Vegetarian Restaurant for Dinner today. Located near Ashwini Hospital on Kasturi Rangan road, it looked like a small Bistro from the outside with a few tables for outside dining. I was amazed when I entered the restaurant, to see that it was such a large restaurant that has a 90 pax coverage. The interiors was neatly done and the Mona Lisa paintings was hung all over the walls. Started off with the Minestrone Soup which was a bit thin but had a good flavor and a lot of veggies. The Verdure Grigliate (grilled veggies with seasoning and olive oil) was excellent The Main Course was Penne Arrabbiata which was spicy but excellent. We asked for Parmesan Cheese which I was told was normally charged extra but we were not charged for this. The Margarita Pizza was awesome thin crust and tasty. The lemon Cheesecake and the Pannacota was fantastic and had a nice flavor and not very sweet. Overall - Nice Ambiance, Great Service (a few of them were from Burgundy's), and therefore a lovely change to the veggie dining scene in Chennai. I parked on the opposite side of the restaurant and was told by the staff that it would not be a problem. Unfortunately, the cops locked my wheel as it was a no parking area - Rs 200 ticket!!. If you are going to visit, please park on the same side of the restaurant as this is legal Enjoy your Visit!!

I googled, found Dario\\\'s website, checked out their menu online and was glad it had items the troops enjoy.. A small nag was that dad prefers roti, subzi kinds, but then put that thought aside and thought what the hell, let us try.. Made a reservation for 7.30pm, and good thing i made the booking. The place was packed and i overheard the Maitre\\\'d tell someone on the phone the earliest they can give them a table was 9.30pm. I can imagine the thandav my family would have thrown had we not got a table and made to wait for 2hrs... jeez... Tucked away near Ashwini Hospital on Kasturi Rangan road [the road next to Chola], Dario\\\'s is a fairly small place. But only when you enter the building do you realise how not so small it is. A house that has been transformed, it is quite cozy and quaint. The walls are all white, with nothing but different funky Mona Lisas staring at you. There is Mona Lisa with Steve Jobs face, Dhoni, Charlie Chaplin, and just about everyone else you can think of. Infact, throguh the decor, Mona lisa with variations adorn the walls. The main hall has a huge mosaic of Mona Lisa, quite colorful and vibrant. As we waited for our table, i was surprised to see a familiar face, Marc, who had been a PR man and part of a review we did earlier. He mentioned he was the CEO here and that the place was barely a week old but doing fairly well.. Another guy who took us to our table was also familiar, i had seen him at another restaurant earlier. [guess the restaurant world is also a small one, you are working here or there] Our table was tucked away almost at the end of the house, but was a nice nook. Granpa loved the private space, and started making plans to bring in more family for a meal there. We started the evening with a complimentary plate of Focaccia bread with a tomato+capsicum dip. The meal officially began with an order of 2 starters and 4 soups Soups- POMODORO- A thick creamy tomato soup with onions and basil- Dad enjoyed this and so it must have been good and pure tomato soup. :) FUNGHI - Cream of mushroom soup - looked almost black and tasted like mushroom, order only if you LOVE mushrooms PAESANA - A peasant style mixed vegetable soup with chickpeas- quite a light soup, it had a whif of basil BROCCOLI -Cream of broccoli soup with onions and roasted almonds- this was the most amazing of the soups... Absolutely delicious... The starters were - CREMA DI SPINACI- Spinach and fresh cheese dip with parmesan, served with warm pita bread- This was quite simple. I actually requested for another cup of the dip they gave with the Focaccia. ARANCINELLE- Sicilian rice balls stuffed with peas and cheese served with pink sauce and red chilli- The rice inside was not your normal rice, it had an interesting taste and we quite liked it. As the conversation flowed, so did the food. We all tasted the other dishes and tried to identify the ingredients. Was fun.. For the main dishes, we decided to order different dishes so we can try different flavours. Gramma was the 1st to decide, she pointed to the RISOTTO GENOVESE [Creamy rice with potatoes, basil, garlic, pinenuts and parmesan cheese] and said that is what she wanted. and it was good, the basil flavour stood out, maybe a tad strong, but was delicious... Dad wanted something light and so opted for the PENNE POMODORO [With classic tomato sauce, basil and cheese along with yellow zucchini & capsicum slices ] which was basic pasta. Granpa wanted pasta, and we ordered PENNE ARRABBIATA [With spicy tomato sauce, red chilli and onion] which he loved, it was spicy and yet not over the top. I wanted to try something diffferent and chose GNOCCHI DO MASSA GNAZIU [Home-made gnocchi with rucola, served with a spicy tomato and cream sauce with fresh rucola and cheese], well it was different from what i had envisioned the gnocchi to taste like but was simple subtle and the sauce was heavenly. I literally licked the plate clean. and mom had her eyes set on CRESPELLE AI FUNGHI [Baked pancakes with mushrooms, garlic, cheese, tomatoes and peas], we actually asked for the one with Asparagus but werent sure since we were told Asparagus soup wasnt available. Thin crepes with filling topped with white sauce, and i am guessing it had been baked wee bit as well. Dessert anyone? Couple of heads wagged a NO, and then others wagged a MAYBE. So, we decided to order 2 desserts and just split them. After going to and fro, i ordered a Panna cotta and a Lemon Cheese cake. They were both good, one tad sweet while the other had strong lemon flavours. The plates were polished within minutes and therefore no photos... :) Phew... That was one awesome meal.. The soups and starters came within 10mins, but the main dishes took over 20mins to arrive on the table. The dishes were all good, portions quite large and flavours distinct in each of the dishes we had ordered. Ambiance: 8/10 [they also have an outdoor seating area] Price: 7/10 - the meal for 5 of us came to Rs3100 [roughly 500bucks per person] Service: 8/10 Overall : 8/10