X2 Cafe, Lahore - Contemporary cafe with a hint of high end dining. Should be on everyones soon-to-go list. Went to the newly opened X2 Cafe yesterday. Ordered the French Onion, Mulligatawny, Tomato Basil and Cream of Chicken soups for starters. The French onion soup I had ordered was divine. The onions were perfectly caramelised and meltingly tender while the broth was cooked to the perfect consistency. The other three soups received rave reviews too though the tomato basil was slightly on the more sour side for my liking (but I understand it has to be slightly sour) but the consistency was perfect - not too thin, yet smooth. For the main course we ordered their Sole Fish, Beef Steak in Tarragon Sauce, Chicken Ala Kiev, Fish and Chips and Pasta with Stir Fried Shrimp Tail. The Sole Fish was marinated to perfection. The garden salad served was it was fresh and crunchy, though Id have preferred some light seasoning on it. The Tarragon Sauce with the steak was one of the best Ive had in Lahore. The steak was impeccably cooked with a thin pink line in the middle (Thats the way I like my steak. For those who want is slightly more cooked ca specify the cook on the meat.). Chicken Ala Kiev was well-stuffed. The fried fish was crispy on the outside and well cooked from the inside, though Id have liked it to be slightly more brown from the outside - 30 more seconds fry. The marinara sauce with the french fries (which were pretty crunchy and not too loathed with oil) was simple, the way marinara sauce should be (I dont like restaurants experimenting too much with a classic sauce like marinara). The pasta was made in tomato and basil sauce (from what i got through a small tester bite). The pasta had an ample amount of well seasoned shrimps which is something we all love. For desserts we ordered X2 Cafes Carrot Cake, New York Cheese Cake and Chocolate Fudge Cake. The Carrot cake was undoubtedly the best Ive had in Lahore for as long as I can recall. Similarly the New York Cheese Cake was right up there in my list of best cheese cakes in the city. The Chocolate Fudge cake was slightly disappointing, but then Ive never liked chocolate fudge cakes. We ordered Coffee Affogato, Mocha Frappe and the Coffee Shake at the end. The Coffee Shake had a very good consistency with a strong flavour of coffee. The best part of the shake was hat it wasnt exceedingly sweet as many places tend to do. I did not taste the Mocha Frappe but the person who ordered it was pretty satisfied with the taste. I ordered Coffee Affogato on the recommendation of the cafe manager. This was the highlight for me. This seems like a pretty common type of coffee around the world but I had it for the first time yesterday. A scoop of vanilla gelato topped with hot double espresso shot. Divine! For all those espresso fans this is a must! The Manager was kind enough to let us visit the kitchen at the end of our meal. With all this clean kitchen saga happening, I was pleasantly taken aback with the cleanliness - everything shinning and well structured. No one in the kitchen was without the plastic gloves and floors were clean mopped are regular intervals. Also visited the dishes cleaning booth - very impressed by the standard of cleanliness X2 maintains. A quick shout out to the staff at X2 - very corporative and well-manned/trained. One last thing - the interior! Its more like a high end restaurant in London than a cafe but its stunning! Kudos to the interior designer. Grey, black and purple theme with contemporary digital art wall hangings and a high Buddha statue. A two way projector - first one Ive seen in Lahore, adds to the contemporay environment. The manager told me that they would be utilising this screen for a number of events including the screening of the Champions League final between Athletic Madrid and Real Madrid on 24 May 2014. Marks out of 10 for the 5 factors which I consider while rating a restaurant: Food: 9 Ambiance: 10 Staff: 9.5 Cleanliness: 10 Service: 8 *Sorry couldnt take any pictures - was soo engrossed in eating as soon as the food came. Next time will upload picture. Till then go ahead and try this new Cafe.
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 08:42:21 +0000
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