Review: Bangali Bhuribhoj at Paprika, Courtyard Marriott, Chennai

After a really, really long time, I'm putting up a review post. These days we're eating out less, and when we do, we rarely have the time to take pictures.

This week I spent a pleasant evening with a group of food bloggers from Chennai Food Guide at a preview dinner at the Paprika restaurant, at the Courtyard Marriott in Chennai. We were there to get an advance taste of their Bangali Bhuribhoj Food Festival - The Divine Taste of Bengal. I was quite excited because while I am quite familiar with many of the Indian cuisines, I am not very familiar with the cuisine of Bengal - except for the sweets, course! Bengali sweets are among my favorites when it comes to Indian sweets.

I sampled almost everything they had in offer that evening and I was told they had more dishes planned for when the food festival started. The buffet spread features not just Bengali cuisine but the usual continental and European cuisines as well to make sure every palate is catered to.

I skipped the soup like I usually do. They had a Chicken shorba on offer and the other reviewers said it was fine, but not fabulous. Among the Bengali starters, the thing that struck me as odd was that many of the starters were the same preparation - there was a eggplant variant, an egg and potato variant and a mutton mince variant of the famous bengali 'chop' or what we here in Chennai call a Bajji. It was kind of an overload. I enjoyed the flavor or all three though - especially the egg and potato version, which is something I am not used to. We do the egg but rarely with seasoned mashed potato thrown it. It was really nice!

The other stand out dishes for me were the mutton gravy (I forgot the name!) and the chicken gravy called Murghi Jhol. The mutton was tender, albeit a little too bony, and the gravy was tasty. The chicken was cooked to perfection and well seasoned. The fish gravy was the one that at first appealed to me the most, considering I love seafood, but personally it wasn't a favorite for me. You see, traditionally the fishes most commonly used are river fish which tend to be a little too bony. It isn't really possible to de-bone these fish, and it doesn't make eating it an easy task. If you don't mind ditching your fork and knife and getting your fingers dirty, the curry is tasty enough to make an effort! There were some regular rotis, naans, steamed rice and a pulao to go with the curries.

The fish biriyani was quite an interesting part of the menu for me. The fish in the biriyani was nicely cooked and flaky and tender unlike the fish in the curry. I enjoyed the fish. The biriyani was tasty too but slightly underseasoned. A little salt and a little more spice would have made the biriyani just perfect!

Among the vegetarian dishes, the stand out for me was the Aloo Poshto. I really enjoyed the flavor of that dish and it made me go back for seconds.

I also sampled some non-Bengali fare out of curiosity and I just loved the grilled tenderloin with peppers. It was really tender and perfectly cooked!

As I said earlier, Bengali sweets are my favorite kind of Indian sweets and I love love love the roshgulla! The roshgulla was nice here and so was the khoa filled cham-chams. The jalebis were very good and had that tangy finish that I love so much. I loved watching the jalebis and mapua being made fresh at the live dessert counter. The malpua which I was really anticipating was good in flavor but a little too rubbery for me to able to finish it. I wish it had been a little more tender and I would have polished it off.

This food festival was a taste of good Bengali home food, and I think I just might go back to sample the mishti doi and sandesh that I heard might be served in the coming days. You know me - desserts all the way! Chef even mentioned that there will be variations in the menu from day to day, and I think that would be awesome.

Bangali Bhuribhoj at the Courtyard Marriott is on from September 25th - October 3rd for dinner only, and is priced at Rs. 1250 per head plus taxes. Check it out! 

Restaurant Review: 5 Senses

When you saw the title of the post, you may have wondered why I am posting review after review and no recipes. Am I changing this blog from a recipe blog to a restaurant review blog? The answer is NO!

If you follow me on my Facebook page, you probably know I was feeling a little under the weather for a few weeks, and the truth is that I am still not feeling myself. I did visit the doctor, and there is nothing to worry about - thank God! But I haven't had the energy to do much baking or cooking and I've been doing only what is absolutely necessary.

Thank you so much for all the messages, emails and wallposts asking how I am doing! It really makes me feel so good... Truly!

On to 5 Senses!

This was my second time at 5 senses. I must admit that my first experience was a very memorable one - but not for a very good reason. I remember going there with a big bunch of friends. I had taken my little girl along too. The food was tasty. The drinks were interesting. The service and ambiance were nice too. My only complaint was the portion-sizes. My 2 year old ate all my food! Seriously. I had like 2 bites and she ate all the rest. Now this place isn't cheap - and so I didn't want to order any more. So why was this meal so memorable? Because I left the place desperately HUNGRY! Not a good thing.

This time around, I kinda expected the same minuscule portions, but I am so, so, SO happy to tell you that I was wrong! This meal was one of the nicest I have had in a while!

Do you remember the chilly-lime drink I had at Dewberry's and how much I loved it? So, when I saw a Watermelon-Habanero Iced Tea on the menu, you know I just had to have it! This was a bold, spicy-sweet drink and I just loved it! All the other drinks seemed very nice too...

We also had some lovely focaccia (too soft and fluffy for me - I like my bread with a little bite - but still quite tasty), and some wonderful hummus (though I felt it could have been more lemon-y) and adorable baby pita bread!

The starters were really delicious - because we couldn't make up our minds, we ordered a Chef's choice platter and a Tapas platter. Everything I got to sample was delicious. Each dish was unique in flavor, the textures were spot-on, and they were absolutely perfect with their accompanying sauces/garnishes! My favorites were the smoked salmon-asparagus starter and the pork spare ribs! So yummy!

Apart from that, a friend ordered Spanakopita and the chef recommended a curry stuffed mushroom & some jalapeno fritters with a raw banana mousse and goats cheese mousse. My first experience with Spanakopita was not good, and so I really didn't expect much. I am so glad I was wrong again!

I. LOVED. EVERYTHING!

The mains were just as yummy!

The green apple and prosciutto pizza was just delicious! I loved the texture and flavors.

The ravioli was really interesting! I loved how it looked all deceptively cheesy. But guess what? It had a lovely hit of fresh, green chillies. It was not a combination I had tasted before, but I actually liked!

The pork chops were tasty, well-cooked and well-seasoned, but the stand-out for me on that plate was the side! It was a fluffy white couscous with cubes of ripe mango, cubes of semi-ripe mango and bokchoi! I had three helpings of that! Really awesome stuff!

The lamb chops were nice too, but nothing to write home about. :)

Because I am a total sucker for smoked salmon, the smoked salmon and asparagus pasta was one of my favorites! Just loved it and the combination of salmon and asparagus is just brilliant!

The only main I didn't enjoy was the lamb shank tagine. I found the flavors overwhelming and too Indian. Or maybe my palate wasn't responding well to all the spices after eating so much of non-spicy food. :)

Desserts are usually what I look forward to the most - and when I heard about the mango creme brulee, I was excited!

Sadly, that was the only let down of the day for me. In my opinion, a creme brulee needs to have that cracking sugar crust and this one had a few brown spots and no crack. It was more like a mango custard - tasty but not what I expected. It was served with a white coffee sorbet. The flavor of the sorbet was brilliant but I didn't enjoy the mango-coffee combination much.

The other dessert was a Callebaut Crostata with a Bailey's ice cream. The tart was molten and looked very appetizing, but the flavor seemed a little weak to me. Still it was chocolate, and I was in the mood for chocolate, and so I was happy to dig in. :) Definitely better than the mango dessert. The Bailey's ice cream was also a winner!

The ambiance of the restaurant is definitely worth a mention. The outdoor seating is lovely and would have been my pick if it wasn't for this awful, humid weather we've been having! The restaurant is lovely and the walls are adorned with gorgeous black-and-white pictures of some legends of cinema. Very classy! Who wouldn't want to dine with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck watching over you? :)

Overall, this was a superb meal, and I would be happy to go back again, and again, and again! And I am so happy to see the larger portion sizes!

For some delicious, creative food, head to 5 senses on KNK road! Definitely a must-try!

I'll be back soon with a recipe post! Thanks for being there for me while I've been away!:)

Restaurant Review: Kryptos by Willi

Let me just start off by saying that I am huge fan of Chef Willi's food. I love, love, LOVE the food at Tuscana. Burgundy has some tasty stuff as well, though hot buffets are not my favorite kind of dining experience - the food tends to get kinda overcooked and dry sometimes, don't you think? So when we were invited to review the Greek-Cypriot restaurant 'Kryptos', I was quite excited. I had been there once before, and enjoyed the cold mezze buffet!

This time, our hosts had a set menu planned for us. We had unlimited access to the cold mezze buffet (yay!) and a few warm mezze dishes, and our mains and desserts had been ordered for us. I couldn't wait to get started!

I started with the cold mezze and loaded my plate with all my favorite things. By the time I walked back to my table, I felt like I was being greedy, but there was really a LOT of yummy stuff on the buffet and I just had to try them all. I loved the salads - there were so many kinds, and my favorites were some awesome pickled vegetables, a really nice potato salad and the classic Insalata Caprese. Apart from the lovely salads they had some really lovely dips - hummus, tzatziki and a few more. And they had a few varieties of cheese. You know how I love me some cheese. Very nice spread!

The warm mezze dishes were served to us at the table and I sampled a few of them.

There were quite a few vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, and I just loved the vegetarian ones! My favorite of the lot were these rolls called Bourekakia Melitzanes (don't ask me to pronounce it!), which were deep fried rolls filled with cheese and eggplant. Oh my! They were really, really yummy! The falafel was also really good.

Among the non-vegetarian ones, I liked the Lamb and Aubergine rolls. There was a fried lady finger fish, which is supposed to be eaten whole - bones and all, but personally, I felt the fish was too big and the bones were too brittle. Swallowing was a little painful for me. But then again, maybe it was just me!

The mains arrived in quick succession. There was a chicken breast dish which was flavored with garlic and mint. I found it under-seasoned and didn't enjoy it much.

Next up came an impressive and intriguing looking claypot. In it was oven baked fish cooked with potatoes and herbs. While I loved the presentation, the flavors just didn't work for me, and I felt that the fish was a little over-cooked. The pot seemed to retain a lot of heat, and I feel that the fish kept cooking long after it was taken off the stove.

The beef dish, called Fried Hamburgers, was my favorite among the non-vegetarian dishes, but to be honest it didn't blow my mind either. It was fine. And it was well-seasoned.

My favorite main of the evening turned out to be a dish called 'Papoutsakia' which was eggplant halves (are you noticing a pattern here?) stuffed with some aromatics, a bechamel sauce and some cheesy topping that was all melted and golden. I just LOVED it and helped myself to a second eggplant half. The other vegetarian dishes were also good.

Along with the mains, we were served some sides of caramelized carrots, potato wedges and garlic rice. All the sides were really tasty and the potato wedges were so incredibly crispy! I was very impressed with the sides.

Finally, we got to dessert and we were served a moist chocolate 'pie' and baklava.

The chocolate dessert tasted pretty good, though I couldn't figure out what made it a 'pie'. It had a very unusual (but not unpleasant) texture and had a deep chocolate-y flavor. I quite enjoyed it. The baklava, I didn't like much. I felt there was a LOT of the filling and not enough pastry layers. Personally, my favorite part of baklava is the crispy filo pastry, and this one just didn't have enough for me!

An interesting new thing at Kryptos is that the menu is bilingual - with all the dishes explained both in English and in the local language, Tamil. Quite unique, I must say!


Overall, I enjoyed the meal - especially the mezze dishes (hot and cold). Would I go back to Kryptos? Yes - to enjoy some awesome mezze!

Restaurant Review: Zaica

Zaica.

This was one of the most mind-boggling, confusing reviews I have ever been part of. Everything about it threw me off - some in a good way, and some - not-so-much. Let me start at the beginning...

So we pull up the front of the restaurant, and I look at this tiny entrance surrounded by high buildings, and I am wondering - how many seats could they possibly have in this tiny place? And then I walk in, and the place is really, really BIG! Lots of little private dining rooms and even a gaming room with game consoles that you can use - free-of-cost - while you wait for your food to arrive!

The decor of the place itself was a little confusing - some modern pieces, some antique looking baubles and a gaming room. But somehow, it didn't feel wrong!

We were seated at a table by the buffet counter. And then we were told that we would be eating from the buffet. I am not a big fan of buffets. But hey - I don't know much about Peshawari food, and I probably wouldn't know what to order! Just based on the names, I definitely would NOT have ordered the dishes that turned out to be my favorites!

While we waited for the starters to be served at our tables, we were given some papads with some very yummy chutneys to snack on (pictured below).

And there was some Papdi chaat. The chaat wasn't impressive, and I was hoping the rest of the meal would be a lot better!

The first course arrived. Soup! If you've read my blog, you probably know I love soup. I usually don't pass up on the soup unless it looks or sounds particularly unappetizing. This one was a mutton based soup called a Yakhni Shorba (pictured below).

It didn't look very appetizing, but since I am a big fan of mutton, I just had to try it! Sigh. I wish I had passed up on the soup. It was really not good. It was lukewarm, with undertones of mutton and overtones of.... not good. The vegetarians got a Tomato Shorba, and that was the first time in my life I wished I was a vegetarian! The Tomato shorba, while not amazing, had flavor and the flavor was well-balanced. I loved the sour notes in the shorba. Really pleasing on the palate. And it helped wash the the other soup's taste out of my mouth.

Then the starters began to make their way to our tables. First came the vegetarian starters. I'm thinking, "Beetroot tikkis? Seriously? I like beets, but honestly - I heard there were some yummy sounding chicken tikkas coming soon! I wanted to save tummy space for those. But I am a food blogger. I need to taste everything, right? Okay, maybe just one tikki so I can write about it on my blog."

The first bite of Beetroot ki Tikki (pictured above) and I was floored. And this time, in a good way. Not just good - great! That beetroot tikki was one of the best vegetarian dishes I have eaten - ever! I asked for more. And I ended up eating about four that afternoon. Oh my goodness! SO good!

Then came a paneer based dish called Gul Gul Fom Ki Paneer (pictured below). The name made me giggle. And then I thought, "Could this one be good too? Should I try it?", and I did. Wow! Another starter that was knocked out of the park!

Amazing! Layers of soft paneer, and sandwiched in between were some sort of mushed up peas, and mushrooms, and covered with a sauce that for the life of me, I cannot identify. All I can say is that it was yellowish in color. But it tasted great! I asked for more. What was happening to me?

Third vegetarian starter of the day was Bhutiyan di Seek. Three for three? Was it possible? Nah! :) While this one also tasted very good, it didn't WOW me the way the first two starters did.

The non-vegetarian starters came next - a sesame based chicken tikka (Murgh Til Tikka), and cream and fenugreek marinated chicken tikka (Murgh Malai Methi - pictured below), and fried fish.

All three were good - the best of the lot being the sesame based one. The other two tasted nice enough and I tasted all three, before asking for more beetroot and paneer. Um. What's wrong with me?

For the mains, we headed to the buffet counters. Nothing really impressed me here.

The vegetarian curries were okay - and marginally better than the non-vegetarian options. My favorite curry was the Vegetable Makhanwala.

The Mutton Roganjosh (pictured above) tasted fine, and the meat was tender, but it didn't taste like any roganjosh I've ever tasted. Maybe that's the Peshawari way of making it? It was nice enough. The classic Chicken Tikka Masala was just okay. Nothing to write home about. The Dal Makhani was nice.

The Chicken Biriyani (pictured above) was decently flavored and you couldn't really complain about it. I personally don't like Chicken Biriyani, and maybe that's why I wasn't impressed. For me, biriyani = mutton! :D

Finally, my favorite part of any meal - dessert!!!

The cake was terrible! The worst part - there was pink layer of 'skin' over the top of the cake. I think there was some sort of gelatin-infused fruit coulis over the top. But the harsh lights of the buffet dried out the layer and it became a sort of fruit leather. Not good.

The Gulab Jamuns (pictured above) were average and were served too hot. If only the soup was as hot as the jamuns, it may have tasted better. Or maybe not. I usually like jamuns and ice-cream, but this time, I passed on the ice cream.

Overall, I can say that my meal at Zaica was a strange experience. I guess the best way to put it would be that the good was great and the bad was really bad! The chef really knows how to cook a mean beetroot tikki. If they increased the standard of the main courses, and totally revamped the dessert section, it would be a lovely place to eat.

The non-vegetarian lunch buffet is priced at Rs. 480 and the vegetarian at Rs. 425, and the menu is different everyday. Zaica is located on Cathedral road next to Zara's Tapas Bar.

Would I go back? For sure - for those righteous vegetarian starters! I feel a beetroot tikki craving coming on right now!!!

Restaurant Review - Azzuri Bay

Azzuri Bay is a restaurant that I have been hearing about for ages, but never got around to visiting. And when I got the chance to review the place, I obviously said 'YES!'.

I arrived there on a balmy Wednesday evening, and was greeted at the ground floor who confirmed my table and sent me up the elevator after informing 'the man upstairs' that I was on my way. We were seated in the outdoor seating area which overlooks the river. The setting was was really pretty, and I hear is even nicer looking during the day. As I mentioned, the weather isn't great this time of year, and I was starting to feel a little warm. While we waited for our drinks, the first surprise of the evening turned up!

I don't know how many of you have had these, but I loved these growing up. I don't know if there is a more correct name, but we called it 'Pepsi cola'(pictured above). Makes no sense at all because it has nothing to do with Pepsi, and you almost never find a cola flavored one! As kids, we didn't care that it was just tons of sugar, synthetic flavors and colors mixed with water (from who knows where!) and frozen in a questionable looking plastic satchet. We LOVED it! This was a real blast from the past for me. This time it was fresh juice, and very refreshing. A tad too sweet for the grown-up in me, but very appreciated! Thank you, Azzuri Bay, for the trip down memory lane!

When I told this friend of mine that I was going to be reviewing Azzuri Bay, she said, "You have to have the Thai Iced Tea(pictured below)!" And so I did.

I wish I hadn't listened to my friend. I really did not like the drink. The other reviewer who ordered the same drink agreed that the flavor of lemon grass was so overpowering that you started feeling a little sick. He managed to finish his drink, but I couldn't get past three sips! The restaurateur kindly replaced my drink with a fresh watermelon juice, and all was well with the world! I tasted the San Fransico Iced Tea and didn't much care for that one either. My favorite of all the drinks that evening was a Virgin Pina Colada which was surprisingly light and very refreshing!

Then the starters began to arrive. And they kept coming, and coming and coming.

Of the ones that I sampled, the biggest hit was the Grilled Shrimp (pictured below)! It was so succulent, perfectly seasoned and the spices did not overpower, allowing the star of the dish - the shrimp - to shine through. I ate a fair number (which I will not specify), and enjoyed every single bite of it!

The other starter I enjoyed was the Double Cooked Chicken Pepper Strips. I loved that the chicken was really well cooked, and not at all overcooked. It was moist and very flavorful. There was another black pepper based dish which was the Garlic Pepper Fish, which I loved in terms of flavor, but found the pepper way too coarse for my taste. I hate biting into almost whole peppercorns and that kinda ruined it for me. But just like the chicken, the fish was very well cooked too.

The Crispy Chilly Beef was tasty, spicy and really yummy, but I think it should be renamed. No sign of any crispiness. But as chilly beef, they hit the spot!

For me, the biggest let-downs were the money bags (pictured above), and the momos - both the vegetable and shrimp momos. While they were juicy and well-cooked, they totally lacked seasoning and flavor, in my opinion. Very bland!

The other starters - Hummus and Pita bread(pictured above), Spring rolls, Veggie kebabs on sugarcane skewers were just okay. Definitely nothing to talk about!

At this point, we resurfaced from all the starters and took a few seconds to look at the menu and to look around us, and we noticed that the restaurant was full! Second surprise of the night... Amazing that they had such a large crowd on a Wednesday night!

Moving on to the mains, I went with one of my favorite cuts of meat - lamb shanks! I just adore lamb shanks and was looking forward to moist, falling off the bone, flavorful lamb shanks, and I am happy to report that I was not disappointed! The Lamb Shanks Sofrito (pictured below) was a total winner, and was the unanimous favorite among the meat eaters. Bizzare, because I usually have the worst luck at picking things off a menu! LOL :D

The baked potato on the side was quite disappointing. I know it's hard to make a perfect baked potato - crispy skin and fluffy, starchy interior - but I expected them to have nailed it. Sad. But the lamb shanks made me forget my baked potato woes.

Unfortunately, none of the other diners were too impressed with their starters. The wine in the Chicken Milanaise was overpowering, the pizzas (pictured above) had a lovely wood-fire oven baked crusts but the toppings were flavorless, the vegetarian lasagna was waaaaaaay too creamy, and the Chicken Penne Alfredo was pronounced 'just okay'.

The worst luck of the evening belonged to the steak lovers. Every single steak (one of the steaks is pictured above) was terrible, in my opinion - either overcooked, undercooked or had unimpressive flavor. Honestly though, I don't think it is a problem with the dish or the recipe. I feel that these dishes were let down by the execution. It needed to be cooked & seasoned right. You know how bad a badly cooked steak can be, right? I really felt bad for the guy in the corner fighting his T-bone steak with a carving knife, and losing the battle.

Thankfully, the meal ended on a bright note! The desserts were excellent! The Chocolate-Cointreau mousse, and the Apple Pie were tasty but nothing to rave about.

The Mississipi mudpie - a chocolate crust, filled with coffee gelato and topped with fudgy chocolate sauce - was very tasty and was the most popular dessert with the majority of votes - not mine though. The popularity, I think, was mainly due to the wonderful flavor of the coffee gelato. The crust was way too frozen  (and kinda thick), and so we couldn't cut through it till all the gelato was gone and the crust thawed out.

My choice of dessert - the Pomegranate panna cotta (pictured above), scared me at first. It arrived on a plate, floating in some really weird looking pink, watery, milky..... stuff. It took me a while to work up the nerve to taste it, but once I got past the sloppy presentation, I was quite pleased with the flavor and the texture of the panna cotta.

I also asked if could sample the Double Chocolate Gelato. The first spoonful made me go 'Wow!' and then as it melted I noticed something very strange. The third surprise of the evening for me - the gelato wouldn't melt. It just became un-cold, but remained the same in consistency and texture. Strange! After about 5 minutes, I was left with a thick, creamy, chocolate-y bowl of something very close to a fudge sauce, but still held it's gelato shape. Being so thick and rich, I could not eat more than two spoonfuls! I though gelatos were supposed to have a lighter base?

In my last post, I mentioned that I made quark after eating a quark-based dessert at a restuarant. I was talking about Azzuri Bay's dessert...

...the Gentle Aphrodisiac(pictured above).

Ahem.

It was really good! I loved the sweet cheesecake with hints of sour from the quark topped with the bright red, tart raspberry sauce. Overall, the combination was lovely and light, but most of the others at the table didn't seem to enjoy it as much as I did. I didn't complain. I just ate most of it myself.

Overall, I had a lovely meal at Azzuri Bay! My starters, main and dessert were delightful and well-cooked, and so I guess if you know what to order, you can be sure to enjoy a lovely meal in a beautiful setting!

I must mention that Azzuri Bay serves Thai, Chinese, Italian Mediterranean and Chettinad food (please don't ask me to explain this strange combination of cuisines!), and is definitely worth a visit! I mean, if they have full seating on a Wednesday night (that too in the outdoor seating area in our weather!), they must be doing something right!

I think I will go back soon!

P.S. - Please come back for a special Easter post tomorrow! :) I am pretty excited about this one!

P.P.S. - If you are waiting for that quark-based recipe I promised, don't hold your breath. We ate all the quark!!! Will get around to posting a recipe after I make some more quark!

Restaurant Review: Dewberry's

I had never heard of Dewberry's before this event. I liked the name and I was looking forward to the review. It is tucked away in a quiet street off Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai (Cathedral Road). The restaurant has outside and indoor seating, and while the outdoor seating seemed the popular choice, I was glad to be inside where the lighting was a lot better for photographs! Sans camera, I would want to sit outside for sure!

To kick things off, I ordered a blueberry smoothie, but it kinda let me down. Not a good way to start the meal huh? I couldn't taste even a hint of blueberry despite the purple color. It just tasted milky (and you KNOW how I feel about milk!), and slightly vanilla. I decided I would abandon it and move on. And then I sampled another friend's drink. It blew me away! I just HAD to have it. So I got my own salt-rimmed glass of it!

Yes that is a fresh green chilly! This drink was a twist on the regular lime juice - lime, water, sugar syrup - and the most perfectly balanced hit of fresh green chillies! So amazing... and as the dinner progressed, the drink got spicier and spicier as the chilli soaked through. It was really awesome! A must have when you visit Dewberry's!

We were joined for the evening by one of the partners at Dewberry's and we let her do all the ordering for us. Several starters, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, started appearing in quick succession. First up was a sweet bruschetta - Caramel Fruity, it was called. The idea itself sounds great to me because I love the whole sweet-salty thing (remember my bacon brownies?), but this didn't deliver for me.

I did not like the texture of the bread or the taste of the cheese. But I was glad to see some of the others enjoying it.

I loved this dish named Chippy Fungi (interesting names ;)!) - it was deep fried tortilla strips tossed with some fresh veggies and lots of button mushrooms and coated in this creamy sauce. I really enjoyed it and I would order it again!

The Prawn Gamberoni was a unanimous favorite among the meat-eaters. The prawns were cooked to perfection. Perfectly juicy, plump, not at all chewy prawns, with peppers and a tomato based sauce. Honestly, I was not a great fan of the sauce. It tasted a little ketchup-y to me, but I could not stop eating it because those prawns tasted incredible.

The other starter - Chicken Tortellini was interesting - a little chewy but I didn't mind that. Again with this dish, I didn't much care for the sauce.

Moving on, the main courses began to arrive, starting with a few sizzler plates.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, again I felt that while the paneer (pictured above) and the chicken sizzlers were well-cooked, I didn't like the sauces. I did like the accompaniments on the plates though - a garlicky rice and perfectly cooked and seasoned veggies that I couldn't stop picking at.

Two pasta dishes were served - a vegetarian option, Magic Mushroom Pasta (no not THAT magic mushroom) and a Chicken Bolognaise. I felt the bolognaise was quite flavorful but found the pasta sauce kinda runny. Tasted decent though. The mushroom pasta was just okay.

We also sampled the Grilled Fish Fillet - Vietnamese Basa grilled with an Asian tasting marinade. This was a well seasoned tasty dish, and the fish was cooked very well. The sides were the same as the ones on the sizzler plates and were good.

The only main that I totally did not get was the dish called 'Fruitlette'. It was a tortilla stuffed with peppers and paneer and grilled like a quesadilla. While the tortilla and the filling tasted fine, I did not and still don't understand the whole lot of fruits served on the side. Don't get me wrong. I like fruit. I like quesadillas. I just didn't like this concept. I felt there was no connection between the quesadilla and the fruits in terms of flavor. And I didn't like that a whole lot of fruit was wasted.

There were a lot of options for dessert and overall I wasn't too thrilled with what we tasted. I asked for something called Simply chocolate. It was okay. It tasted nice but didn't blow me away.

I was very excited about trying the fried chocolate bar and envisioned something totally decadent and oozing, but it was chewy instead of melty and not great in flavor. I wish they had used better chocolate.

Two crepe dishes were ordered - the Simple Simean (pictured above) tasted nice - thin buttery crepes with banana and chocolate and some slightly caramel-y sauce poured over the top. The sauce wasn't great (sorry!), but the crepes had a lovely texture. It came with a fruit entourage like the one on the quesadilla plate, and once again, most of the fruit was wasted.

The other crepe dish was a small pancakes filled with apples and raisins and drowned in chocolate sauce. It also usually comes with the fruit on the side, we heard, but in order to avoid more waste, we got it without the fruit. This dish was a total miss. The crepes were rubbery and almost inedible in my opinion, and the filling didn't help. Worst of all (at least for me personally), I hated tasting elaichi (cardamom) in the chocolate sauce. Didn't work for me at all!

Another strawberry shortcake inspired dish didn't do anything for me. Especially when I noticed the supermarket style cake slices on the plate. It was edible because it had stawberries and a lot of whipped cream but I wish they would use better cake!

After glancing through the menu, I was surprised how easy on the pocket Dewberry's is. Another thing that caught my eye in the menu was a quote on the first page. I loved it! (typo aside) :p

Overall, I actually enjoyed the meal despite the few big misses. The average sauces were totally overshadowed by the perfectly cooked meat and seafood, and the great sides totally compensated for the rest of the flaws.

If you are on Cathedral road and wondering where to grab a tasty bite, without blowing a hole in your pocket, this is a place worth checking out.