Olive Beach

For my next visit for the Restaurant Week, I picked Olive Beach. Olive Beach is one of Bangalore's most loved restaurants, both by the locals and expat crowd. The lovely romantic ambience, (usually) friendly service and delicious food crown this restaurant as a top favourite amongst many food lovers in Bangalore.

I hadn't been to Olive Beach in a few years and I thought it was about time that I visited the place. Also, their menu looked attractive and had more of a variety in starters and main course relative to the other restaurant's menus I checked out. I wanted to try out everything on the menu, so I decided to go with a bunch of my friends, so that all of us got a chance to sample everything.

Olive Beach's decor is really something to talk about, especially at night time. Everything from the blue gate that leads you to the restaurant, to all of the scented candles placed meticulously around, the soft lighting and lovely green everywhere makes this rank very high as far as ambience is concerned. The entire ambience creates for such a warm welcome that you can't help but just be wowed by it.We went on a Friday evening at 8 pm, and the restaurant already seemed half-full. I walked in and was greeted warmly by the gentleman at the reception. Upon confirming that I had booked a table for the Restaurant Week, the server who was appointed to guide us to our table immediately flashed a frown that never left his face for the entire duration of our meal.

We ordered our starters first, and decided to take one of each, as that was what we had decided. Our server said that we had to order all the 3-courses upfront as it would take time (that didn't make sense to me, how does ala carte work here?). We ordered all the 3-courses like he asked us to, and he left grumpily. I found the server extremely rude in the manner he asked us to order upfront (we had no idea that that was the concept) and he seemed really impatient and irritated when we were discussing who would order which main course/dessert (there were many options and each one had their own preference). 

Once our order was placed, we were starving and wanted to munch on something. We waited for the bread basket for about 10 minutes, but it never came. I wasn't sure whether it was not included for the RWI meal or whether our server genuinely forgot/didn't bother serving us. I finally caught the attention of another server and asked him about the bread basket, upon which we received two plates of bread with olives and butter within 5 minutes. The bread was fresh and incredibly soft and we downed it in no time.

Soft, warm bread and olives.

Our starters soon arrived and we couldn't wait to dig in. I ordered the Potato and Cream Cheese Chowder with sauteed bacon, scallions, carrots and sweet corn (anything with bacon does me in very easily). When I first tried the soup, it didn't taste anything extraordinary, but after having more of it, the cheese and corn tasted lovely and the bacon was super yum. This was a decently sized portion, so fills you up quite quickly.

Potato and Cream Cheese Chowder

Our next starter was Tuna and Egg which was served with nicoise olives, baby potato chips and fresh arugula leaves drizzled with a 5-herbed vinaigrette. Despite the small size, the cut of the tuna was divine and went beautifully with the herbed arugula and the egg. We assumed that the egg was hard boiled by the way it looked, and when we poked it with our fork, that lovely yolk oozed out to coat the arugula as well, offering a party of flavours in our mouths with the tuna. The potato chips were a little too soft for my liking.

Tuna and Egg with arugula

The next starter was the Wild Green Filo Pie where the filling of spinach, mustard and radish leaves were sauteed with garlic, almonds and feta and baked in filo pastry sheets. This wasn't too memorable in terms of taste, as I was really hoping the punch of the mustard or the saltiness of the feta would hit me, but never did. The light filo pastry sheet and the almonds in the filling added nice texture to the pie.

Wild Green Filo Pie

Our next starter was the Baby Mushroom Tart Tatin, which was slow poached mushrooms  layered with a creamy, herbed goat cheese mixture and mushroom ragu in handrolled pastry. Mushrooms and goat cheese generally pair well and this tart didn't disappoint at all. The taste of the goat cheese was highly discernible and blended well with the mushroom ragu. The tart could have been crispier though.

Baby Mushroom Tart Tatin

Our final starter was the Smoked Chicken Salad in a hummus yoghurt dressing served with apple straws, pomegranate and walnuts. I have always been a fan of the chicken and apple combination, so I knew I'd like this salad; I just wasn't sure about the hummus dressing on it though (I never considered fruits dipped in hummus as an idea even). My doubts were put to rest when I tried this salad and fell in love with it instantly. The different combination of textures and flavours in this dish surprises you and you're bound to love it. The meatiness of the chicken, crunchiness of the walnuts, tartness of the apple, sourness of the hummus yoghurt dressing and bite of the pomegranate made this a highly memorable salad for all of us.

The super yummy Smoked Chicken Salad.

Our general reactions to the starters were mixed, but we liked most of them. We geared up for our mains and they soon began to arrive. Again, we took one of each, and I decided to go for a vegetarian option and the moment I spotted Gnocchi on the menu, I was sold and ordered it immediately. This turned out to be decision I regretted.

I had ordered the Gnocchi Alla Romana, the Roman style of gnocchi preparation which was a baked dish made of semolina, Parmesan and cornmeal. It tasted abysmal. There was no seasoning, no flavour to it and the dish tasted plain awful to me. I passed it on for the rest of my friends to try, and they concurred. The gnocchi was served with grilled asparagus and artichoke, but they offered little redemption. What I wanted was the traditional gnocchi stuffed with potato or any other vegetable, and I received something I didn't like. I decided to speak to the chef and he told me  that this was the Roman style and that this was the way they served it. He was highly courteous and offered to replace it with another dish, and I decided to go with the risotto, that was also on the menu.

Gnocchi Alla Romana

My bigger problem was with the fact that the gnocchi preparation/style wasn't mentioned clearly on the menu. Gnocchi Alla Romana wasn't clear to me that it would be anything but the stuffed gnocchi pasta. There should be no room for ambiguity in such a case, and I was mighty disappointed with what I received.

My (replaced) dish arrived, which was a Goat Cheese Risotto with wine soaked pearl onions, spinach and herbs. One look at the dish and I could tell that the rice wasn't cooked long enough. The biggest part of cooking risotto is the constant stirring of the Arborio rice and adding plenty of stock/water to cook it well leaving it just to the bite. This rice was nearly crunchy, not cooked well at all and the flavour of the goat cheese didn't seem to come through at all, making this just as bad as, if not worse than my gnocchi dish. I didn't bother complaining about the risotto as I'd already sent a dish back before and didn't want to make a scene. Overall, I was disappointed with my main course.

Goat Cheese Risotto

Our other main course was the Moroccan Chicken Stew, which was a stew of marinated braised chicken thigh with chickpeas, okra, pearl onions, and served with minted saffron rice pilaf. The stew was very ordinary and honestly, it didn't leave a lasting impression enough that I could write something here about it. I also found the chicken a little tough and the chickpeas hard, and not soft like I would have liked it to be.

Moroccan Chicken Stew

The other mains ordered included the Crusted Sea Bass, which was a parmesan crusted fish with mushroom duxelle and romesco and the Roasted Tenderloin with oxtail and mushroom ragu, pearl onions, green peas puree and fondant potato. The sea bass was lovely with that parmesan crust and the mushrooms went very well with the fish. The tenderloin received mixed reviews on the table and I felt that oxtail and mushroom ragu didn't complement the tenderloin well. I loved the peas puree and fondant potato though.

Crusted Sea Bass

Roasted Tenderloin

Unimpressed with our mains, we looked forward to our desserts with little or no anticipation; but we were pleasantly surprised when the desserts did come along, as they were nothing short of brilliant. First came the Warm Apple Tart with green apple jam, candied apples, cream cheese mousse and praline ice-cream. The apple and cream cheese mouse was a delightful combination and the praline ice-cream added the right amount of sweetness and a lovely crunch that went well with the tart.

Warm Apple Tart

Next came the Lemon Mousse served with a warm citrus cake with vanilla sauce and lemon sable. I LOVED the lemon mousse, and thought it had just the right amount of tang that made it perfect in every way. But trying to finish it single-handedly might be a challenge, as after a few bites, the collective sourness and tang of the citrus cake and lemon sable begin to take over, making it a little too tangy. The next dessert was the Brioche Almond Pudding with frangipane, blueberry compote and vanilla gelato. This dessert was nice, but not memorable. The frangipane had that lovely sweet nuttiness of the almonds that matched the sweet tang of the blueberry compote.

Lemon Mousse

Brioche Almond Pudding

The hero of the dessert round was eggless Chocolate Cake with chocolate cremeux, vanilla cream, cherry and berry sorbet. We simply expected this to be a regular chocolate cake but this cake wowed everyone's tastebuds in an instant. The chocolate cremeux provide for 3 flavours - a lovely sweetness, followed by a slight bitterness and elevated by a salted edge. A hint of chilli was probably the only thing missing. :)

The orgasmic creamy Chocolate Cake

Our 3-course meal finally came to an end and it had its fair share of ups and downs. For me, however, the service (particularly with our server) was very disappointing. He was rude and indifferent to us from the moment we got into the restaurant and was very indifferent throughout. I wouldn't dismiss it as him having a bad day, because he was very friendly with the group next to us, but apathetic only towards us. I gave my feedback in the form given, but I don't know what help that would be of.

My final rating:
Food - 6/10
Ambience - 10/10
Service - 2/10
Verdict - Save your appetite for the indulgent desserts, don't expect the best in food and service!

I've mostly only read glowing reviews of Olive Beach, but my experience wasn't as great as everyone hypes it up to be. The food was merely above average, and the restaurant bill would indeed dent your wallet. If you did try the RWI at Olive Beach, do leave a comment below. I'd love to know how your experience was! :)

Olive Beach is located at: 16, Wood Street, Ashok Nagar, Off Brigade Road, Bangalore
Ph: 080 41128400/+91 9945565483
Parking: Valet available

Benjarong

So the Citibank Restaurant Week is finally here, and I’m very excited. Yay! Spanning across 3 cities (Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore), the event usually happens twice a year – in April and in September. The idea is to give people an opportunity to dine at each city's finest restaurants at a fraction of the price it would normally cost through a three-course prix fixe menu. This allows participating restaurants to showcase their food by selecting dishes representative of their philosophy and diners get to experience restaurants they may have hesitated from trying. A 3-course meal at these fine restaurants costs Rs.750 plus taxes per head. I won't call it cheap, but it's not too expensive either.

The first restaurant on my list was Benjarong, the Thai restaurant located on Dickenson Road. I've been to Benjarong before and have always enjoyed my meal there, but it had been a while since I visited it last, so I picked it. Also, they had the most extensive menu of the lot, offering 4-courses with plenty of options, so it was a personal favourite.

We went on a Tuesday night at 7 30, and the restaurant was empty except for one table. We were offered the menus and everything looked really tempting. Each of us was allowed to pick two starters (mighty generous, if you ask us), so we ordered the 3 starters off  the non-veg menu and one from the vegetarian menu. Your meal here typically begins with the Thai version of what I may call a paan. Except that instead of betel leaves, you'd have the iceberg lettuce served with pieces of ginger, peanuts, chilli, lime, toasted coconut and jaggery. It all comes together wonderfully to essentially give you 3 prominent Thai flavours - sweet, sour and spicy.

Thai style Paan ;)

We ordered our appetizers, along with our soups and salads. Surprisingly, the first dish that came to our  table was the soup. As far as I know (and the million army parties that I've attended), it's always the appetizers that precede the soup. The soup is served as a reminder of "Dinner is nearly ready." Do educate me on this if anyone knows the whole deal. Anyway, we ordered the Tom Yum Soup, which was a spicy Thai soup flavoured with lemon grass, Kaffir lime and galangal. I ordered the vegetarian one and my friend ordered the shrimp one. I liked the veggie one better because it was lighter and had a distinct, clear flavour of the lemongrass; the shrimp soup literally tasted 'shrimpy', i.e. had that fishy taste that I didn't particularly enjoy.

Lemon grass soups with veggies (L) and shrimp (R)

My first starter, Grathong Thong Gey was simply herbed water chestnuts in rice tartlets. Now, I really like water chestnuts as I love their versatile use, so I might be a little  biased while writing this, but this was a splendid appetizer. The herbs blended very well  to give the chestnuts an already fresher taste and the tartlet was perfectly crispy. My next starter was the Gai Hor Baitaey, which was spiced chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves. The chicken was wrapped in a pandan leaf which locked its flavour and heat and was perfectly moist and tender when we tried it. I enjoyed both of my starters.

Chicken in Pandan Leaf (L) and Water Chestnut Tartlets (R)

My friend ordered the Grathong Thong Gai, which were rice tartlets filled with herbed chicken mince (similar to the veg one). This tasted fine to me, nothing exceptional, and I found the water chestnut tartlet to taste far better. The final starter was the Tod Mun Pla, which were fish patties served with cucumber relish. This was a mighty disappointment, as the fish tasted like it had some gram flour coating and was a little too greasy for my liking. My friend agreed. No sign of the cucumber relish either, but we were served a sweet chilli vinagrette which, fortunately for us, completely overpowered the tasted of the fish patties.

Chicken Tartlets (L) and Fish Patties (R)

For the salads, I picked the Yum Mamuang, the raw mango salad (something that I've always enjoyed here) and my friend picked the Larb Gai, which was a minced chicken salad flavoured with Kaffir lime leaves and mint. My mango salad was lovely as always with the toasted peanuts and chives, just that I found it a tad too sour (largely because of the unavailability of good quality raw mangoes in this season). The Larb Gai was a total breath of fresh air with the chicken coated with that lovely Kaffir lime tang and the fresh mint powering through. Both the salads were a hit among us.

Raw Mango Salad

Chicken Larb

We were filling up real fast and still had main course to try. There were four options in the non-veg menu, and we decided to order all four of them (since each of us were allowed to select two mains, again, a very generous choice). I ordered the Gai Pahd Hed, which was stir fried chicken and mushroom in a wild oyster sauce and the Gae Pahd Prik Tai On, stir fried lamb in a tender peppercorn rice. I liked the chicken in the oyster sauce a lot. This was served with steamed rice. It was light and the combination of chicken and mushroom was a wonderful marriage that went well with the rice. The lamb was nicely flavoured and had a lovely peppery flavour. The accompanying veggies with it were also nice, though I ate this like a starter instead of pairing it with my rice.

Our next orders were Kaeng Keow Wahn Gai, which was a chicken green curry with pea and aubergine and Pla Rad Prik, fish in chilli basil sauce. We chose Thai flat noodles in a chilli basil sauce as an accompaniment for this. The chicken and aubergine went very well, and the rice was a better accompaniment to it. I found the peas, however, hard and very difficult to bite into. The fish had a nice chilli flavour, but was nothing exceptional.I enjoyed the flat noodles in the chilli basil sauce immensely though.

Now completely stuffed and nearly bursting at the seams, we had a final dessert to go. My friend ordered Sankhaya Fakhthong, which was a coconut and pumpkin custard. It was an odd combination, but we were curious to try it. The flavour wasn't too great, and I didn't get much of pumpkin flavour anyway. The texture wasn't silky as that of a typical custard, and the total dessert wasn't much to write home about. My friend even termed it as 'Coconut Halwa'. :P

Coconut and Pumpkin Custard

 Since curiosity seemed to be the theme of our desserts, I ordered the Aitim Takrai, which was nothing but lemon grass ice-cream. I had never tried a lemon grass flavoured ice-cream and seeing this on the menu definitely piqued my interest. Two generous scoops of this pale green ice-cream finally arrived on my table and I took a small teaspoonful. I LOVED the burst of flavour in my mouth and loved how versatile the taste of lemon grass was right from the soup to ice-cream. I recommend this to everyone. My next stop: Wasabi Ice-cream. :)

Lemon Grass Ice-cream

Our lavish 4-course meal finally came to an end and we were too full to even move. The bill came up to Rs.940 inclusive of taxes and was money well spent. I must add here that we found the service outstanding and our server constantly came to our table from time to time, serving us, explaining the dishes, and taking good care of us. We did leave a generous tip because the service was fantastic.

Food - 7.5/10

Service - 10/10

Ambience - 9/10

Verdict - Definitely go to try an authentic meal from Thailand in the heart of Bangalore.

I'm looking to try two more restaurants this week for the RWI, so more reviews coming up! :)

Benjarong is located at: 12/1, Ulsoor Road, Ulsoor, Bangalore

Contact number: 080-32217201/+91-9342-401-606

Parking: Valet

Breakfast at Cafe Mozaic

I'm a sucker for continental breakfasts and love having the luxury of time and a world of an appetite for a lazy breakfast on a weekend. Which is why when I was up surprisingly early on a Sunday morning with a "I'm so hungry, I can eat a Hippogriff" kind of appetite, I decided to indulge in a breakfast buffet that would calm my stomach down.

I've tried the typical fare of all weekend breakfast places - Hole in the Wall, Cafe Terra, Ants Cafe, Pecos (yes, they do serve continental breakfast along with a delicious Chicken Stew with Appam) and was frankly, looking to get more on my palate. Which is why I decided to go to Taj Vivanta instead. I've been to Taj for breakfast only once before, and found it lovely, and I decided that it was worth the indulgence this time as well.

We walked in by around 8:30 a.m. to a half-full Cafe Mozaic and I wanted to sit by the pool side, but was informed that it was closed. I was irked with that, because nothing speaks bliss like a glass of orange juice on a Sunday morning by a serene pool side and stuffing your face with pork sausages and strips of fatty bacon.

Anyway, I dived straight in to the buffet - they have 101 items on the table, so it's a LOT to take in. They really do have everything from Indian to Continental to Asian food. You'll find live counters of Masala Dosas, Appams and even Paranthas. Idlis, chutneys, Puris, were all nicely served up. First things first, I packed my plate with a couple of pork sausages, bacon strips, ham slices, hash brown, baked beans, mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, some cheese and toast. Not too much, I like keeping it simple.

First round of the breakfast buffet

The sheer number of options for the breakfast buffet is overwhelming. If you love food as much as I do and are as Indian as I am, you are likely to hop around every counter and get something on to your plate not just because you're hungry, but you feel that this is your money's worth. And it is. *evil parsimonious grin*

Poached eggs on toast.

Love at first slice.

I think the bacon here has a halo and is blessed with divine light. Hallelujah!

Grilled Tomatoes and lovely Hash Browns

The spread also included a lovely chicken stew for your appams, smoked salmon, cut fruit counters, endless cereals along with fried rice and noodles with accompanying sauces (I never went to any of these counters, btw, because I can't digest the idea of rice for breakfast, and why on earth am I at Taj to eat fruit and cereal?).

Cheeses from around the world.

The fruit counter that I stood far away from.

The Indian side of things.

Slowly and steadily, I began to stuff myself by eating whatever my stomach could take. I took little breaks in between, and then resumed my buffet devouring session. After no more space for bacon that could give me a heart attack, I settled on a simple waffle with chocolate chips. My friend was already too full (and he ate less than half of what I did, what a pity), and he wasn't even willing to take a bite out of the waffle.

Waffle with gooey chocolate chips

The waffle was nice and warm and I liked the idea of gooey chocolate chips inside the waffle. Topped with maple syrup, this completed my Sunday breakfast beautifully. I wish I had more space to have also tried their pancakes, but I was certain that I would have burst if I had tried anything more.

To sum it up, the breakfast is pretty darn awesome and I love the wide variety of food offered. The quality of the food here stands apart, well, because they're the Taj, but they rank high in taste of food, service and ambience. I do wish they would have served more cold cuts though - nothing like meat, cheese and fruit for a great start to your morning.

Food - 8/10
Service - 10/10
Ambience - 8/10 (it gets a 10 when I'm allowed to sit by the poolside)
Verdict: For the love of food, go already.

The breakfast at Cafe Mozaic is priced at Rs.800 per head (all inclusive of taxes). This is totally worth it, especially for the price point. The breakfast buffet is available from 7:30 - 10:30 a.m. on weekends.

P.S. Apologies for the crappy pictures. I was lazily clicking them with my phone, but my priority was to eat, rather than click.

Cafe Mozaic is located at Vivanta By Taj, 41/3, MG Road, Bangalore - 560001

Caperberry

Caperberry is one of my favourite restaurants in Bangalore. The food has always been top notch, service has been personal, friendly and very attentive and the ambience speaks of sheer indulgence. I always try to stop by here once every 3 - 4 months for a nice meal, because dining here often could burn a serious hole in my pocket.

I had a good work week and felt like being indulgent and decided to go to Caperberry for a good meal. I've usually tried only their a la carte menu, and decided to try something different this time. I decided to go for the 7-course tasting menu that I had heard so much about, and being in a happy mood in general made me think that this was going to be worth it. They also had an option of a 9-course meal, which aside from everything in the 7-course meal, included a scallop dish and a crabmeat risotto, both of which neither my friend nor I were interested in.

Caperberry's interiors are very aesthetically done - the decor is very tasteful and the walls are beautifully done up; it exudes class by itself. The restaurant by itself is known for its brilliant dishes backed by innovation and plenty of taste, thanks to Chef Abhijit Saha. Caperberry was one of the first restaurants to introduce Bangalore to molecular gastronomy. While we were waiting for our meal, our server promptly brought us some Olive Bread and Bread Sticks accompanied with a Pesto and Mayo dip. The smell of bread wafted right out of the kitchen as it was freshly made. I tore the bread and it practically crumbled in hand and was downright delicious. I wiped the bread bowl clean and shamelessly went for seconds, a request our server obliged with no qualms (I'm usually met with scowling faces when I ask for 'extra' bread, crisps, stuff that is usually offered complimentary at restaurants).

Freshly baked bread

Our first course was a Tuna Tartare which had Kikkoman soy, gari, wrapped with nori, topped with passion fruit caviar and sprinkled with sesame seeds. This was served with a dollop of Wasabi sauce. The texture of the tuna was crumbly, but I really enjoyed the taste. It represented the typical Pan Asian flavour and the soy, gari and nori packed a punch. I personally wasn't a fan of the passion fruit caviar paired with the tuna, but I think you could get used to the taste. I would have liked more of Wasabi.

Tuna Tartare

Our next course was Chicken Spaghetti with fresh Bocconcini. Our server came to a table ready to pour the warm tomato basil consomme over the spaghetti. I didn't have much expectations from the dish, thinking it was a regular pasta dish, until I realized that the spaghetti was actually made out of chicken. The meat flavour really kicked in and the spaghetti was bloody delicious! My friend and I were blown away with the way the spaghetti tasted and the taste of the chicken stood out fantastically. The Bocconcini was nice and creamy and paired beautifully with the spaghetti. I was not a big fan of the consomme as it tasted like a watered down tomato juice to me. Spice lovers might not enjoy this dish too much, as it's a little bland, but bang on when it comes to flavours.

Chicken Spaghetti with Bocconcini

Our third course was Potato Scale John Dory served with orange segments, orange dill sauce and topped with a lemon foam. The potato tasted amazing. Imagine the taste of the best hash brown that you've ever had and multiply it by twenty. That's how good this was. The John Dory fish is something I usually enjoy, because of its butter-like consistency. This fish too melted right in my mouth and the orange segments and sauce gave this a nice, punchy taste. The lemon foam was a little too zesty, especially when there was already enough citrus in the dish.

Potato Scale John Dory

The fourth course was a drink - Virgin Cryo Margarita, served to cleanse the palate. The drink was refreshing and there was a nice, strong hit of lemon and ginger. Neither of us could finish the whole thing as we were already a little full, and we still had 3 more courses to go. Also, what fascinated me about this drink was that it was sizzling when it was brought to the table and our server asked us to wait a few minutes before we drank it. The chef had used liquid nitrogen in getting the desired effect. Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen which is held in a liquid state at a very low temperature. On immediate contact with food, liquid nitrogen boils and envelops food, rapidly evaporating the liquid nitrogen into plumes of nitrogen gas bubbles which crystalise and freeze.  As a result a kind of "steam" of nitrogen bubbles is formed which solidifies into micro-crystals to freeze food instantaneously. We then had to 'crack' the margarita open to drink it, which was a fun experience.

Virgin Cryo Margarita

Our fifth course, and the highlight of our meal was the Smoked Pork Belly which was served with a nice apple-onion relish, turnip puree, saute potato and flavoured with a red wine sauce. When they say smoked, they do really mean smoked, because the pork belly was served under a closh to retain all its smoke and flavour. Our server lifted the closh and the smoke hit me - delicious, sweet aroma of the pork belly being beautifully smoked. The pork was crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. It tasted out of this world and is probably the best pork dish I've had in Bangalore yet. The turnip puree and potato were great accompaniments to the pork.

Smoked Pork Belly

By now, we were pretty full, but saved some space, as there is always room for dessert! The first dessert was the Goat Cheese Timbale. The goat cheese was the base, topped with cut kiwi, candied orange peel, pistachio, demerara sugar and a Parmesan crackling. I loved the dessert, but I should warn you that it's an acquired taste. The nuttiness of the cheese, with the delicious kiwi and candied orange all merged beautifully for a very lovely dessert. I'm not sure if the Parmesan crackling went well with the dessert.

Goat Cheese Timbale 

The final course was Frozen Chocolate Ganache Powder which honestly looked something like a combination of Indian masalas over cocoa powder. The reason for the varied colours was the use of beetroot soil, mint soil and cinnamon powder over the ganache. This dish wins hands down when it comes to the varied textures. The chocolate powder is a little thick and sticks together and there is a burst of choco-shock flavour when you pop it in your mouth. The cinnamon and mint gave the chocolate flavour a nice lift and elevated it to the next level.

Frozen Chocolate Ganache Powder - a winner for producing amazing textures in your mouth!

We were really stuffed by the end of our meal, and I was pleasantly surprised as the menu was a tasting menu and the portions were quite small. Still, 7 courses do fill you up. I loved the distinct taste, flavour and texture of each dish that was served and savoured every morsel of what I ate.

I enjoyed my meal at Caperberry immensely, and the service was friendly and attentive as always. The staff always ensures that the customers are well taken care of. I ended up ordering a Mint Mojito while I was distracted on a call when I wanted a Watermelon Daiquiri. I was confused when the drink came, but later realized that I had indeed ordered the Mojito. The server didn't hesitate to offer me a Daiquiri instead and replaced the drink with no qualms.

I will definitely go back to Caperberry soon for an unforgettable meal. Also, Citibank's Restaurant Week has featured Caperberry as one of the restaurants that you could have a 3-course meal for just Rs.750 plus taxes. I have 4 restaurants that I'm already looking forward to try for the Restaurant Week. (this is not a promo, I just like to eat).

Food: 9/10

Service: 10/10
Ambience: 8/10

Verdict: A triple yes, whether it's the Special Menu or the Ala carte you're looking to try.

The 7-course Tasting Menu (non-vegetarian) is priced at Rs.2,000 plus taxes (per head). The 9-course meal (non-vegetarian) is priced at Rs.2,450 plus taxes.

Caperberry is located at 48/1 Ground Floor, The Estate Building, 121 Dickenson Road, MG Road.

Chef's Table at Pizza Hut

Last week, I was invited to a special Chef's Table Menu at Pizza Hut. The event mainly invited food bloggers and other individuals associated with the F & B industry. The Chef's Table event was in its third season in India, and was led by Pizza Hut's Head Chef, Arjyo Bannerjee in collaboration with Luca Ciano, Executive Chef from Barilla (the international pasta giant), Italy.

The event started out with icy cool beverages being handed about. For a moment, I got excited thinking they were cocktails, but I quickly realized where I was. Nevertheless, the drinks were great, particularly the Ginger and Lime one that I tried. The main focus of the event was to showcase Pizza Hut's soon to be launched pasta menu and educate people about pasta and the innovative recipes you could use to maximize the burst of flavours.

Chef Arjyo and Chef Luca ready to get the cookout session started!

The session began full swing with a very cool live cookout workshop where the chefs were dishing out Pasta 101 to us. While we were getting this Pasta gyaan, the appetizers were laid out for us. The Assorted Veg Platter consisted of Crispy Veg Patty, Parmesan &Garlic Potato Wedges and Onion Rings served with Sweet Chilli ad Jalapeno Cheese sauces. The potato wedges and the veg patty were perfectly crispy and had surprisingly good flavours (I have little faith in fried vegetarian starters when it comes to European food in India).

Veg Platter - Potato wedges, Veg Patty and Onion Rings

The Non Veg Platter consisted of Chicken topped Crispies, Jerk Chicken Skewer and Kibbeh with Tomato Salsa and Yoghurt dip. The only redeeming dish on this platter was the Chicken Topped Crispies, which were something like an Indianized version of Nachos with good squirts of cheese. The Jerk Chicken was pretty bland on flavour and the Kibbeh was too dry for my taste.

Non-veg Platter - Chicken Crispies, Jerk Chicken and Kibbeh

Chef Arjyo started the cookout session by whipping up the Red O White pasta (to be launched next month by Pizza Hut). This was simply fusili tossed in a tangy tomato and herb sauce and tempered with cream, topped generously with basil and Parmesan. With use of limited but fresh ingredients, this pasta came together wonderfully in terms of flavour and spice.

Red O White - tomato and herb sauce with cream.

Next, it was Chef Luca's turn to wow us. He prepared a Warm Spaghetti Salad with Lemon & Oregano marinated Prawns. Since it was a salad, none of the ingredients were cooked, except the pasta. This got some people jittery, since raw prawns wasn't something they were interested in trying. Chef Luca assured us it was ok, that the heat of the spaghetti will warm up the prawns fine, and the prawns were of top-notch quality so they wouldn't create an issue at all (plus, don't we eat Sushi with raw seafood anyway?). The salad was warm and refreshing, and the lemon and oregano worked their magic on the prawns fantastically.

Warm spaghetti that was al dente - firm to the bite.

Spaghetti Salad with Lemon & Oregano Prawns

While the chefs were busy prepping for more pasta,  we were served some pizzas to calm our growling stomachs (why not pizza at Pizza Hut, right?). The Grilled Chicken pizza was okay, nothing exceptional. The Roasted Bell Pepper, Arugula and Parmesan pizza was simply delicious. The freshness of the arugula and the sharp, nutty flavour of the Parmesan shavings came together brilliantly (I downed 5 slices of this). Again, the vegetarian dish tasted far better than the meat one.

Grilled Chicken Pizza - Lacked punch and flavour.

Veg Pizza - Roasted Bell Pepper with fresh Arugula and Parmesan shavings. Fresh and delicious!

Our next pasta dish was Lasagna Bolognese, except that instead of beef, the chefs used chicken instead. Chef Arjyo made 2 layers of lasagna along with the chicken version of Bologna. I personally found the dish very heavy and fared average on taste - the rest of my table also returned their plates of half-eaten lasagna which echoed what I thought of the dish as well (all the other pizzas and pastas were wiped clean). The lasagna in particular was too rich, and I couldn't get past the first few bites.

Lasagna Bolognese

The final pasta dish was Penne with Sicilian Vegetable Caponata, Salted Ricotta and Pine Nuts, prepared by Chef Luca. More than the flavours in this pasta, I loved the different textures in this dish! The creaminess of the Ricotta, crunchiness of the pine nuts blended beautifully with the caponata. The pasta was topped with very fine fried juliennes of aubergine that we LOVED. I didn't think I would be able to get a cut that fine at home, so I asked Chef Luca to demonstrate it; and he did such a wonderful job that he made me feel like I had some serious dexterity issues.

Chef Luca wowing the crowd with his knife skills.

Penne with Vegetable Caponata, Ricotta and Pine nuts.

We finished off our meal with the Warm Chocolate Trio for dessert, which was simply warm, molten chocolate cake topped with chocolate sauce, ice-cream and white chocolate chips. It tasted good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Warm Chocolate Trio

Chef Arjyo's and Luca's 3 top tips for making a pasta dish:
1. Use firm pastas like Penne and Farfalle for chunky sauces with veggies and chicken.
2. Use flat pastas like Fettucine for heavier, creamier sauces.
3. Use thin pastas like Spaghetti for lighter sauces.

Overall, I had a great time at the Chef's Table event and Chef Arjyo and Chef Luca kept us very entertained and dished out some yummy food with funnier quips. A fun evening overall.

P.S. I didn't have to pay for my meal as it was an event for bloggers, but this is an unbiased review of the event.