JOIN USFlavours lost in the chatter around food
It is good to have expectations but not always! Especially, when one is exploring an eatery in Hauz Khas Village, it is guaranteed that the place will surprise – in a good way or bad, is for you to decide.
On one such excursion Metrolife landed at Moonshine Cafe & Bar – which is supposedly coming up as a favourite hangout place for youngsters. Spread over an area that can surely surprise a new visitor, the restaurant has sufficient space for a small party with good music and drinks available in abundance.
The mocktails in particular are served quite fancily but taste regular. Be it the orange flavour of Moon Chunky or the tart aftertaste of Yellow Jacket due to pineapple and lemon juice, the drinks are just a mixture of different fruit juices in varied proportions. Instead, the shakes that the place offers are rich and preferable.
On matters of food, the menu is short and crisp with a major focus on finger foods that can be enjoyed over drinks. These appetisers come in handy during night when music reverberates adding to the ambience. A bowl of Quattro Formaggi Nachos and a group of friends can chat for ages munching on it.
The four types of cheese – parmesan, jalapeno, goat and halloumi – make the crisp nachos a treat. There are more starters such as Lamb Quesadillas that are quite filling. However, the taste of minced lamb in salt, pepper, cumin and cheddar cheese fails to impress much.
It is difficult to rate the starters collectively on the basis of just two dishes, for the rest got lost somewhere between the kitchen and our table! With great difficulty one overcomes the disappointment of not being able to try the Caprese salad, Flat Bread and Cheese and Jalapeno Croquettes.
Soon arrives the Chicken Shawarma with a pleasant filling of chicken, marinated first and tossed in pan later. Filled inside the tortilla, the shawarma would have tasted better if it were served a little above the room temperature. Nevertheless, the Fajita stuffed with cottage cheese and bell pepper turns out to be a better choice. Dip this in either Mexican salsa or sour cream and relish each bite. Even non-vegetarians would like to indulge themselves in this delicacy.
Chef Mukesh Tanwar shares the quick recipe of the sour cream: “Beat fresh cream continuously, till it thickens and then add lemon juice to it. Garnish with parsley to add colour to the white dip.”
There is also the pizza that can be tried as per one’s desire. Metrolife tries Godfather (with ham, salami, bacon, bell pepper, onion and olive toppings) in the non-vegetarian section and Talk of the Town (topped with jalapeños, baby corn, onion and capsicum) in vegetarian. The grilled bacon gels well with ham and other toppings and there is sufficient quantity of everything, including cheese, but any one of these ingredients fails to stand out.
Time for main course and both Thai Green Curry and Fish Steak are served hot to our amazement. The curry is cooked well and so is the fish, but lacks any extraordinary flavours. While the greens boiled inside the green curry and placed aside the steak retain their original colour but are a bit chewy. The sole fish has a tender texture that exudes lemon flavour in each bite.
There are no desserts mentioned on the menu but the place does serve a basic brownie with vanilla ice-cream. For the rest, order only if you trust your luck!