Not exactly a new place alert but definitely 'A place with captivating food' alert. The menu is exhaustive and makes you go gung ho about what to choose, but trust me with Ms. Kalpana at helm of services she takes care of your all needs. A very warm and welcoming person with always a smile at the same time she is well versed with that long-listed menu.
Culinary tales is just a few minutes walking distance from DN Nagar metro station and I am pretty sure this place is going to be talk of town. This cafe has alfresco section as well, it can accommodate 24-30 people. May be lazy afternoon in winters would be great, in open section.
We were really excited about the lunch, so let's get started.
✨ Creamy shiitake
It's usually the cream of button mushrooms, but since they make it with shiitake mushrooms we decided to try it. A hot bowl of creamy soup on winter noon is a bliss. It had lots of pieces of mushrooms and served with garlic bread. Loved the bowl as well !
✨ Cheesy cigars
The mozzarella and corn filled cigars were crisp, I could taste minced mushroom too. The cheese sauce served alongside was really cheesy and goooey may be a spicy dip would have added up the flavours. Stacked as log of woods fancy presentation..!
✨ Chicken sausages in burnt garlic
Burnt garlics are my fav at any point of the day I can have it and my partner wanted to try chicken sausage, so this starter was like 'tailor-made for Us' . This was regular sausage tossed in with schezwan sauce and soy sauce along with sauteed veggies. Garnished with burnt garlic added the crunch and smoky aroma. Garlic lovers you should definitely try this!
✨ Chicken roulade with caper sauce
The mains here are categorised as Pre Plated. Once again thanks to Mr. Tushar for explaining us the types of service in serving main course. Pre plated service demands the service staff to be skilled in carrying plates without disturbing the food arranged on them. It is called so because the chef already plates them , the service staff just needs to place the dish as it is on the table. You got to choose between mashed potatoes and rice and we settled for rice. Roulade is basically chicken breasts with butterfly cut and tenderised, filled with mixture of cheese and basil and then rolled up. Result :
Protein pinwheels that pack a whole lot of flavor into every bite. Caper sauce has a lemony and pickled flavour to it and at the same time it's creamy. This level ups the piquancy of the dish. Decent potion of rice is served alongside. The sauteed veggies like colourful bell peppers, broccolis and carrots makes it more delectable.
Top notch presentation, Exceptional !
✨ Creamy fajita pasta
Using activated charcoal has taken the culinary world by storm, right from the burgers to shakes to pav bhaji, guess what's next - Pasta. First things first, all types of pasta here are made in house be it penne, spaghetti, ravioli or macaroni. Okay now don't think of it as totally a black pasta. This is mix of all kinda pasta with shells, penne, pappardelle (flattened noodles type) made in Alfredo sauce. The pappardelle ones are black which contains activated charcoal while rest of them are normal. The in house pastas were really good and you can't distinguish it from the readymade ones. Some serious Pasta-making skills at work. Also the activated charcoal pasta is not very much different on palate from other pastas but it definitely an Instagram worthy. The portion size seems small at first but as you dig'in you realise thats really heavy specially after that heavy roulade and also the plate has deep base.
✨ Ice cream Sandwich
Even before we started with the lunch we had already zeroed in on the dessert but Ms. Kalpana had something for us. We wanted to try out their waffles and we wanted to try blueberry and cream cheese but the way ice cream sandwich was explained we almost instantaneously changed our mind and went for this. I have heard of this waffle sandwich but this monstrous was freaky. Huge scoops of Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream is sandwiched between two waffles. But you don't see even a bit of ice cream unless you finish a super thick layer of smooth whipped cream surrounding the ice cream. Topped with colourful sprinkles and drizzled with generous maple syrup and chocolate syrup. This extra creamy, chocolate draped bountiful dessert is just perfect to end your Saturday brunch.
PS This waffle is as huge as my description.
To wrap up a great place with passionate staff, to enjoy delectable food, a feast not just for your taste buds but also for eyes.
I am surely coming back here .
