Click here to read our post on Prego published a decade earlier – post

In a nutshell:

Heard about a new Italian chef Davide Di Domenico at Prego, remembered our earlier experience & gave it a shot. Bowled over. FOCUS ON GOOD FOOD seems to be the only agenda – no distractions.

Address & other details:

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/westingurgaon?igsh=MXUwbGh3d2hqeWFzag==

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TheWestinGurgaonNewDelhi?mibextid=uzlsIk

Google – https://maps.app.goo.gl/L4KKehSLzfBzQWpd9?g_st=ic

Phone for reservations : +91 7595-046253

Meal for 2: ₹2000 onwards

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

YUMMRAJ rates all the food items & then gives a final overall rating, which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster

Short description- in case u r in a hurry

We had a memorable dinner at prego years back, thanks to an Italian chef. When we went back later, the experience was OK. So when we heard that a new chef Davide di domenico has joined Prego, we thought, why not give it a shot.

So we arrived there one Sunday evening. We saw an easel with chef’s picture outside the restaurant. There was a bit of outside seating & a large seating indoors.

We preferred indoors, it being summer of delhi NCR. The decor inside was mostly minimalist & nice. Lighting was low but not too low.

The menu card was brought to us. It was a short menu. We did not even read it & said ‘we heard about the new chef. Can you please ask for his recommendations. We eat everything that tastes good.’

What we did not expect was that the chef would walk in to our table to have a conversation. Contrary to our memory of a middle aged chef we met last time, in front of us stood a tall young chef with a smile on his face. After exchanging a few words we started discussing the items to order.

He said ‘tell me how hungry you are’. We said ‘not very hungry, not less.’ He quickly recommended few dishes & said he will add in another one if we have the appetite. Davide himself got us all the dishes & explained the dishes – like one does in small, artisanal, chef led restaurants. We mutually liked the conversations & it got more & more interesting with each interaction.

The staff who served us was young & some seems new. The manager Biswajit, whom we remember meeting earlier at another 5 star hotel Italian restaurant, was of course super fun to talk to.

Loved the freshness of thought of chef. We also found it interesting that the name of each dish we had, started with Davide

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:

Day 2 – September 2024 update:

An evening of culinary magic on the table at prego, westin gurgaon

Breads that came to the table as we sat were just pure love.

Pasta 

Chef davide.di.domenico walked up to the table himself & made this ‘never had before’ good pasta on a slab of cheese. The pasta had been made in-house from flour. It was prepped in the kitchen & the finishing happened at the table. With an array of mushrooms…. Al dente pasta, rich flavourful cheese (not gooey, not sticky, like the mass produced pastas in india) light cheese (almost like a mid thick gravy) , excellent mushrooms …… wah. Rate it 4.5/5

Pizza

We were told that the pizza is good & we ordered with a pinch of salt. What came on the table was undoubtedly the best pizza I could remember having in India!!! The base – we ate off every inch of it – super fluff, crisp out side. The topping had cheese & walnuts!!! Never had that combination. Drooling as I write about it. Rate it 4.95/5

After eating the above two, we were not feeling stuffed & that’s the magic of Davide’s food. The hydration of the flour was at its max it seems.

Also it had been only vegetarian so far. So we said ‘pls suggest something only meat’. 

Lamb chops 

Then came the New Zealand lamb chops – rare. Wah. Flavours of meat!!! Fat to meat ratio per bite perfect. Texture – buttery. Rate it 4.5/5

We ended all this with chef’s version of tiramisu. Loved it. It was the same taste & flavour of tiramisu but reimagined. Rate it 4.5/5

Day 1

As we waited for our food to come, we were served two dips Rocket pesto & Roasted bell pepper & fresh in-house baked breads – Country bread & Focaccia

Top notch breads. Loved those dips. We requested the server to take back the rest lest we get full eating these.

We started with Davide special salad st Jacques

The classic dish is scallops baked with cheese.

Davide made a very different version & he plated the dish like a colourful art installation.

The Scallops had mind blowing good texture. I can’t remember when was the last time we had such perfectly cooked scallops in India. We loved the fact that the full flavours of scallop were retained. These were great to taste, with the natural sweetness of scallops intact.

We loved munching on the artistically cut crunchy veggies. Parmesan crisps were fun to munch on. The Green sauce was made from a salad leaf base & orange one from a carrot base. Loved it every bit. Rate it 4.75/5

Davide special caprese salad came next.

The classic caprese salad has the colours of the Italian flag. The classic dish has mozzarella cheese on top of tomato slices.

Davide imagined it very differently. He placed the salad tomatoes on a crisp ‘Almond crisp’. Cheese balls with a crisp outer texture & cheese inside was fun to munch on. Loved it. Rate the dish 4.25/5

In Davide special risotto lemon & burrata, the texture of rice was the show stopper. Al dente rice, something that most ‘Italian restaurants’ in India do not serve. For the uninitiated, al dente Literally translates as ‘to the tooth’, al dente is an Italian term used to describe the ideal consistency of pasta (and rice) when cooked. Al dente pasta is firm when bitten without being hard or chalky. Italians call pasta that has been cooked until soft ‘stracotto’ (overcooked).

The Lemony flavour of the risotto was something that we have not had many times.

The risotto had perfectly cooked prawns. Rate the dish 4.5/5

Davide special seabass a la scarpace

The Sea bass did not taste fancy. Rather it tasted real & like an excellent fish can be, when not too many things done to it. The Slow cooked. flaky fish itself was the king of the dish. Rate it 4.5/5

Davide special veggie lasagna eggplant Parmigiana was essentially Parmesan crusted Egg plant. Loved every bit of this. Juicy, good cheese flavours, interplay of texture in the mouth. Rate it 4.75/5

Davide special lemon caprese cake

Absolutely loved the grainy texture. The lemon flavour made it feel fresh & apt for summer. The Cake did not feel heavy. rate it 4.5/5

Overall rating averages out to 4.54/5

Look forward to revisiting to try the pizzas & gnocci.