Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Food Review: CAFÉ PICO @ PHOENIX MARKET CITY, KURLA


Cafe Pico @ Phoenix Market City, Kurla

It was Mother’s Day. My daughter Vinitha wanted to go shopping and insisted on taking me along. We landed up at Phoenix Market City in Kurla. We had visited this mall about 10 months back and at that time barely one-third of the shops were taken. Now, the mall looks simply awesome with all the shops taken by so many brands – both Indian and foreign. There were also a number of fine-dine restaurants as against the food court that is housed on Level 2. The outlets at the food court serve stale food and are quite boring, actually.

The two of us checked out a number of outlets while Vinny purchased a pair of harem pants and three tops at ‘Tomato’ where a permanent sale is on. We also went to Pantaloons where she bought a lovely pair of cotton elephant pants or that’s what they used to be called when I was young.

Inside the restaurant

Finally, the two of us went to Café Pico for dinner. They have a set menu offer going on for the summer and it is to last till May 31, 2013. Once we found out what they were to serve on the menu, Vinny and I decided to risk it. Well, the result was absolutely worth it.

The Set Menu available till May 31, 2013

The set menu comes in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian and offers four courses each. This includes a soup, three starters, one main course and a dessert. The best part is that the food is unlimited. This information is of course for serious gluttons. It did not make a difference to the two of us. The meal costs Rs. 350 plus taxes.

Tomato Coriander Soup

THUMBS UP 1: The Tomato Coriander Soup they served was hot and tangy. I needed some more salt and pepper. While they gave us a salt shaker, the pepper was added straight into the soup by the waiter who used a pepper-mill. It was absolutely fresh and added  a zing to the flavour. The soup was simply yummy. The bowl was quite large and they served it half-full. You can always ask for more. It was perfect.

THUMBS UP 2: The Paneer Shaslik came skewered on long sticks. There were two portions, each having two pieces of the freshest possible paneer; green, yellow & red peppers and onions, all cooked perfectly. The taste was too good. We ordered one extra portion of this starter.

The starters, yum-yum!

THUMBS UP 3: The Baby Potatoes in Spicy Tomato Sauce were finger-licking good. The sauce was perfectly spiced and the baby potatoes cooked to perfection. There was quite a quantity of this yummy starter that we absolutely relished.

An extra helping of Salsa

THUMBS UP 4: The Nachos with Sour Cream and Salsa were good too. Only the nachos were obviously from a readymade pack and hence not the freshest. The salsa was not quite what one understands the dish to be. It was a mix of chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander. But the combination was quite tasty and hence no complaints. Vinny liked this form of Salsa – more like a salad – and we asked for two extra portions.

The aromatic Spaghetti Aglio Olio

THUMBS UP 5: The Spaghetti Aglio Olio was the most incredible dish that I have ever tasted. At the first glance, it appeared as if they had served us plain spaghetti. But the aroma wafting from it was simply divine. Exploring further, I saw that the dish had chilli flakes, garlic flakes and olive oil in it. While there was a mite too much oil for my taste, the spaghetti tasted divine. The portion was just right as it was the third course and we did not want to get stuffed.

Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice-cream

THUMBS UP 6: The Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice-cream was the perfect finale. The brownie just melted in the mouth and was ‘oh so fresh’. I only wish we had insisted on taking only one portion between the two of us. Considering that it was a set menu, I was sure they would serve a small brownie and a small scoop of ice-cream. The brownie was huge and so was the ice-cream scoop. Neither of us could finish the whole thing. It was just too much.

Chefs at work in the display kitchen

THUMBS UP 7: The ambiance and seating was very good and the service excellent. After the taxes were added the bill came up to a little less than Rs. 450 per head which is not too bad considering that it was a four-course meal. A superlative one at that!

I will definitely go to Café Pico again whenever I can.

Café Pico,
Upper Ground,
Phoenix Market City,
Kurla,
Mumbai

They are open from 11 am to 11 pm on all seven days of the week, while the last order may be placed by 10 pm.

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