Kids decided the venue for the Anniversary lunch and zeroed in on Ciclo Café, in Kotturpuram. We’ve been there back in 2016 and remember having a good experience, I immediately agreed. Quite skeptical to try a ‘new’ place as last year’s anniversary dinner was a dampener at Mr. Ong – The Flavors of Singapore by Park Hyatt, we decided to play it safe! As we had a movie to watch in a couple of hours, this option seemed the best too.
We reached the place around 12:30PM and got seated in a table. In about five minutes, the table next to it was occupied apparently for some business discussion. It wasn’t very comfortable, politely asked to be shifted to another side, which was a wonderful decision. The next two tables weren’t taken and we pretty much had the whole place to us. The ambience, especially this side of the restaurant, was classy! Loved it.
We started with Roasted Pumpkin soup to be served one by two with Prawns as add-on, and Creme de Mushroom Soup, again one by two, with chicken as add-on. I liked the mushroom soup, and the chicken in it, very nice and fresh without a doubt!
Crumb Fried Piri Piri Wings was absolutely delicious! Just like how it was described, Crispy panko fried chicken wings, crispy on the outside and juicy inside! The Piri Piri Mayo was a lovely accompaniment to the wings, totally loved this one. Marking this as one of the favorites for this year.
Asian Chicken Satay did not live up to my expectation of a Satay. The chicken was soft, fresh, and well grilled, but the skewered slice of marinated chicken was missing the typical flavors of the Chicken Satay – smoky flavor from the charcoal grill and that familiar Satay flavor from the marinade. It tasted more like a ‘generic’ grilled chicken. However, the accompaniment peanut sauce was wonderful! I’d consider Nasi Kandar Pelita as one of the places that serve the best Chicken Satays in the city.
Jalapeno, Cheese, and Roast Chicken Fries! As the name indicated, knew what to expect, just wished the chicken wasn’t so bland. Otherwise, this was decent. The Jalapenos hardly made any impression except for the last few bites where they were concentrated. The Chicken Tandoori Fries from Gastronomer by Double Roti was perhaps the best loaded fries I’ve had so far!
For main course, son ordered Cajun spiced Fish & Chips which was unanimously praised by everyone. Since I do not eat seafood by choice, had to take their feedback on this. It was served with tartar sauce and house salad which was superb too. This was definitely a winner with the family.
Chicken Cordon Bleu was my choice and the description made me drool. Chicken ham and cheese stuffed chicken breast – served with mashed potatoes and tossed vegetables. This dish was visually stunning! The colorful tossed veggies nicely stacked up, the soft potato mash, and the wonderful chicken breast that looked like a roll, cut into pieces showing the cross-section of the stuffing, clearly exhibiting the chef’s skills. However, I wouldn’t say the taste blew me off. There was something lacking that didn’t exactly bring out the taste of the filling or the chicken itself. The brown sauce was okay, not the delicious types that I would lick off the plate. Overall, this dish would get a 3 out of 5, but looks-wise, full marks, without a doubt.
We ordered two drinks – Cranberry Mojito and Caramel Cold Coffee! The Caramel Cold Coffee was perhaps the best I’ve ever had in recent times! Absolutely wonderful, lacking adjectives to describe this. I would go back just for this and the Crumb Fried Piri Piri Wings . The Cranberry Mojito was good too, refreshing and tasty!
Finally to end the lunch with a sweet note, we ordered a dessert – Salted Caramel Cheesecake. It looked nice when it was brought to the table, I cut the first piece from it and immediately noticed that the texture was not how I have seen cheesecakes. It did not cut into it smoothly, instead, it crumbled and cracked. Tasted good, but definitely not how it should be. Baked Cheesecakes are generally smooth, dense, and luscious. This could have been perhaps because it was stored for too long, or whatever! It was not the best of cheesecakes I’ve had.
We paid about 4.3K in all. Overall, food was a roller-coaster ride. The moment one dish elevated your experience to such high levels, the next one brought you back down, with a thud! 🙂 Overall, not a bad outing at all, but wasn’t perfect in all aspects. Service could have been better, we couldn’t easily get the attention of the waiters. When they were around, they were certainly courteous. We had to ask for plates to be removed, and water to be refilled, something that is normally done proactively in an upscale restaurant.
One of the places I wouldn’t mind trying again, if not for anything else, at least for the cold coffee and their Crumb Fried Piri Piri Wings!
No Comments