Locanda Mia: One can tell the chef is not Japanese (in a good way)

Area:  about 250m north of Fushimi Station, Exit 1  伏見駅
Restaurant:  Locanda Mia  ロカンダミーア
Map and Info:  http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ000962371/map/

Hours:  Lunch 11:30am-2:30pm (LO 2pm), Dinner 5:30-10:30 (LO 10pm), closed Sun


There were 3 different lunches to choose from (pasta, pizza, panini), and within those 3 there were about 2 varieties (pasta had more).  I felt like I've been eating a lot of pasta lately and thus went for the panini, I ordered the bacon cheese and tomato sauce one.  The other was a tuna and potato filling.  The salad bar consisted of mixed lettuce, shredded cabbage, wakame (seaweed), frittatas, potato salad and a 15 grain cold rice salad.  I enjoyed the rice salad for it's sansho (Japanese pepper) flavor and its Italian flare as well.  The potato salad was a chunky one with really nice flavor, not the usual Japanese mayo.  It was less salty so maybe used an imported or a housemade mayo.  The frittata, cooked with potato was nicely infused with the flavor of shimeji.  The soup was a veggie soup, with tomato as it's base.  It had celery, carrot, cabbage and onions, iand was lightly seasoned.  It reminded me of mom's simple veggie soup .

When the panini came I was pleasantly surprised; both kinds of sandwiches were brought to me.  The tomato panini was nicely grilled with a crunchy outer layer, but the ham was thin (I'd call it ham, not bacon), so the flavor wasn't really there, it just tasted like cheese and tomato sauce.  The sauce made the inner part of the bread pretty soggy, but the outer layer remained intact and crisp, so that was forgivable.  The potato tuna sandwich was also mild on the seasoning, using mild tuna and the previously mentioned potato salad, it was actually tastier than I imagined.
Overall I felt like the flavors here were something I've eaten back home, and indeed when I asked, the chef is from Italy (I'm not from Italy but there are a lot of Italian run eateries).