FANCY DÉCOR, PRICES AND LOOS

Australian Rod Vallis and his wife Suzie have travelled to 22 countries. Last year we’d gone for a company trip to Europe. This year, thanks to recession, the furthest international destination we could travel to was the newly opened ‘World Cuisine Network’, Indiranagar. The swanky glass exterior building houses 4 options; Bistro — the coffee shop, La Vigna — authentic Italian restaurant, Masala Craft — Indian food cooked in Olive Oil (!) and Mezzeh — the Lebanese Sheesha bar cum restaurant.

To squeeze in two destinations we had starters at Mezzeh and dinner at La Vigna. They don’t take reservations at Mezzeh so we went early. At 8 pm, on a Thursday night, it was buzzing. The terrace restaurant has two distinct areas; a covered lounge and bar area with low seating and an al fresco dining area. The décor is very Mid-eastern; cloth canopies, Lebanese music.

The menu had dishes which sounded more like bad words than good food. If you hear someone screaming ‘Fattoush!’ relax, they’re only ordering a salad, a well made one at that. To try as many dishes as possible without spending too much (fairly expensive) we ordered a Cold Mezzeh Platter (Rs 350/-) and a hot Pastry Combo (Rs 280/-). The cold platter totalled 5 dips and salads (including Fattoush), served with 3 pieces Khubus (Pita bread), a bit too thick, but crisp, dished out fresh from the oven by award winning Egyptian Chef Sayed. The Hummus, a dip made of chick peas and tahina sauce was of just the right consistency. The Baba Ganouj and the Moutabal, both made out of egg plant had a nice sharp bite to it. The best was the ‘terrorist group sounding’ Tabbouleh, a salad of chopped parsley leaves mixed with mint, olive oil and lime; crunchy, well spiced. In the Pastry Combo, the Cheese Fatayer was just a mini cheese croissant, bland and flavourless, while the Borek Lamhe was a beef croissant with miniscule amounts of beef. Suzie loves spinach and pine nuts, both of which were present in the interesting Spinach Fatayer. The fried lamb kebabs with pine nuts were crisp and well spiced. From their range of dairy dips we ordered the Labneh Khaleet, a deliciously creamy Lebanese cheese mixed with olives. A warning: vegetarians should stuff themselves with the wide variety of starters because the main course offers them almost no options.

Meanwhile Rod came out of the loo with wet hands. He couldn’t work the hi-tech towel dispenser. Making fun of him, I went in, returned with the same result. Finally, Sue came out with a paper towel and a comment about men not reading instructions. We just had to place our hand on the dispenser front and the tissue would gush out.

Hands dry, bill paid, we left for Italy and our main course. We were the only ones who’d made the journey to La Vigna. While it lacked customers and a buzz (was surprisingly empty on another night too) it didn’t lack much else; the décor was classy, the wine list robust, the kitchen well equipped. In their bid to serve authentic Italian food they’d imported everything; ingredients like peeled tomatoes, a wood fired oven to give your pizzas a distinct flavour and even the Italian Chef, Pablo.

We were stuffed so we ordered just enough to write about. The freshly baked and complimentary garlic bread further clogged our stomachs. Luckily the Lasagna wasn’t the cheesy variety but the authentic, light, tangy (imported tomatoes) preparation they serve at street side bistros in Rome. The Seafood Risotto was a bit bland, the flavours provided only by the saffron and the fresh mussels and prawns. Sue, who comes from the land of lamb chops (New Zealand) approved of the Agnello Grigliato — Grilled chops which she’d ordered medium rare, though I found it chewy. The only dessert we ordered, the Tiramisu was fairly competent though it left a powdery residue in the mouth.

At both the restaurants they’ve taken great effort to keep the preparations simple and authentic.

Therein lays the problem too, it doesn’t wow you. Most of us have started expecting (especially for that price) some experimentation.

Nevertheless I’ll be back; to try the entrees and Sheeshas at Mezzeh, the Pizza at La Vigna and (a confession – we didn’t wash with soap!) to figure out how the hi-tech soap dispenser operates.