I've been visiting Dehradun almost every year for the last seventeen, to see my grandparents. I'm normally far too happy pigging on my favourite home food (a list is sent to my grandma in advance just in case she's confused my favourites with my sister's or my cousins'!), to bother with stepping out to explore local restaurants.
This visit, however, my grandma had a little list of her own! A few new joints in town she was quite excited about. For a sleepy retired people's town like Dehradun where everyone knows everyone and where a new shopping mall (with an escalator, if you please!) is discussed with pride for a year and more, a new restaurant makes headlines :) Especially if it's Italian and owned by a tattoo artist!
So off we went to add our names to the visitor book at La Mia Casa. What a lovely little place! It's fairly easy to spot on busy Rajpur Road, because it's painted a bright canary yellow. There's plenty of al fresco dining space in the front garden - tables and sun umbrellas, and pretty lanterns slung across the trees. It was a hot and still summer afternoon, so we decided to eat indoors. The restaurant is the ground floor of a large bungalow, and it's been done up to look like a lived-in home. So you can choose which room you want to sit in, and whether you want to eat at a table or sit in an armchair, or on the couch. It's all wonderfully informal. Sam, the owner, is always on the floor, welcoming guests, having a chit chat and making sure everyone's comfortable.
The menu includes a selection of all-day breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, pasta, grills, sizzlers, sides, and desserts. There are plenty of vegetarian options to choose from. We decided to share a tomato and basil pizza and a mushroom and spinach lasagna. For dessert, the blueberry cheesecake.
I thought the pizza was good - the only thing I'd have changed was the base. Maybe that's because I love a hand stretched thin base made from scratch? The lasagna was delicious, baked in both a cheese and tomato sauce, the pasta sheets lovely and soft and the portion size perfect for two people. Some yummy garlic bread on the side - soft inside, crusty outside. But what was superb was dessert. I've never had a baked blueberry cheesecake served warm, and I really enjoyed it.
All in all, a nice afternoon out! Definitely recommend visiting La Mia Casa if you're in Dehradun.