Café Noir

I visited Café Noir on Saturday with my food group. Café Noir is in UB City and is a cafe in the mould of a Parisian street cafe (similar to Toscano, which is Italian, also at UB city). The menu is essentially sandwiches with a couple of quiches and burgers, with a whole host of coolers and coffees (Duh! Café, coffee, obviously!) as well. This was my first visit to this place, and boy has UB City changed! The last time I'd been here, Noir hadn't opened up and there was just Rajdhani, Toscano and Subway. Yeah, I know, that's almost ancient...it's been a while.

Some of us got there early (and here, when I say early, I mean on time) and we while some ordered cappuccinos, I had a Blue Mint Froz, a drink with blue curacao and mint. It looked really nice, but the mint taste overpowered the tangy curacao. I love the taste of curacao, and was hoping to get a bit more of its taste, but there was more of the mint taste and flavour to it. Another drink that is worth mentioning was the Mint Honey Dew, and one of the persons who had it, PS said it tasted good. I didn't care how it tasted, but it looked awesome. The deep red at the bottom of the drink (from the honey mixing with whatever else was there, and also because of the sunlight) seems to have come out nicely in the snap.

Blue Mint Froz

Mint Honey Dew

Although I was tempted to have the chicken and bacon quiche, I went with the tide and ordered a sandwich. All the sandwiches are priced at Rs 160, and trust me, they are well worth the money, both in terms of quantity and quality. The group 'president', Lil, who's also come with me on a review before to Café Mondo, said that the Orsay (having salmon in it) was heavenly. If I'm right, there were about two or three people who ordered the Orsay (with different bread options). The bread options available are baguette, panini, white, and wheat. The Orsay was indeed good, and it was good to see that the amount of salmon meat added into it wasn't 'reduced' in any way when compared to any of the other sandwiches.

I went for a St Germain (having ham) with panini bread. The ham seemed fresh, with the taste gelling well the usual lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber inside it. Lil herself had a Cafe Noir sandwich, which I think had roast beef in it. There weren't any complaints from her. Another member, VR, had something called a Paris-Nice sandwich. I'm not sure whether it was the option of the bread he chose, or if that was the way the sandwich was served, but it looked awesome with cheese covering the top of the sandwich, and from what he said, it tasted pretty good as well.

Orsay

Paris-Nice

Orsay with Panini

Café Noir sandwich with wheat bread

St Germain

One of the three burgers on the menu was also ordered (Café Noir burger), and this one tasted amazing. Since I've been on the lookout now for the best burgers, this one came pretty close, but surprisingly, they hadn't got the construction right. The lettuce and veggies were below the patty as opposed to above it. I'm picky, ain't I? :) A couple of guys came in a bit late, and they ordered a St Lazare (roast chicken) and a Croque Madam, a veg sandwich, having zucchini I think.

Café Noir burger

St Lazare

Croque Madam

The dessert counter looked simply fabulous. It took most of us quite a few minutes to decide what to order because we weren't able to make up our minds. Lil had suggested earlier that the crème brûlée was to die for, so one crème brûlée was ordered. If you've not had crème brûlée before, you'd probably like this, but the one we had wasn't all that great on this day. The 'fired' sugar top snapped off, and the texture of the inside wasn't all that creamy either. I ordered a 3 chocolate ganache, and this was the best dessert of the afternoon. Thick and creamy, it was truly sinful. Lil ordered a Mille Feuille [thanks to boozy g for the correction] (yeah, if you can pronounce that, let me know...it's French!), which was a layered pastry with vanilla inside. It was very nice, but that was only on the sides, the middle seemed barren :( The last of the desserts was a tutti frutti sable, which seemed to have kiwis and figs.

Mille Feuille (Vanilla)

Tutti Frutti Sable

Crème Brûlée

3 Chocolate Ganache

Overall, I loved the food and the desserts, so no complaints from me. Although Lil and a few others complained that the desserts weren't the best this time around (my ganache being the exception), I still thought it's a very nice place to visit, especially on a bright sunny day.

Food: Primarily sandwiches, which were very good.
$$$: Actually not that expensive. Sandwiches are priced at 160, and most of the drinks are around 100-125, and given the quantity (size) served (and the quality), it's well worth the money.
Service: Decent.
Verdict: Amazing sandwiches, although my vegan friends may not agree. Desserts seemed yummilicious, and although when we visited, some weren't done to perfection, it still is worth visiting.

Café Noir, 2nd Floor, The Collection UB City, 24, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore; Phone: 40982050

Toscano

When I read a couple of reviews for this place, I thought this place would be give places like Bangalore Bistro and Sunny's a run for their money. But alas! This wasn't to be. At least, not yet. I went to this place on Saturday with a friend of mine and I've learnt a lesson: don't order dishes other than pasta here (for the main course), the quantity may dampen your spirits! But if you're the kind who doesn't mind a few things out of place, and can melt with the settings here, which are like any European cafe on the curb, with the cobbled curbs and chairs and tables lined up around the side walk, this place is a wonderful spot to be at.




Sadly, when we got there, we weren't attended to. We waited a full 2 or more minutes, standing and scanning the place for empty seats, before asking a waiter if we could occupy a table that was empty. Ok, weekend, they were a bit busy, but if you wanna be the best, act like the best. The complementary bread and dip was very fresh and was perfect. I ordered the mixed salad, while my friend had the soup of the day (spinach & garlic). While the soup was good (nothing special, but it tasted good), the mixed salad left me with mixed feelings. It was a little too green for my liking (I know, salad, but what the heck), and when the menu said it had goat cheese, I thought there would be more than just one 1 inch piece (see the top of the snap below left - the little whitish piece on top is the goat cheese, and that's all there was)! But no, that's all there was.

This place has a Rs 325 buffet that allows you to choose a started and a main course, and a Rs 400 buffet that allows you to select a starter, a main course and a dessert. We chose the latter. For main course, I had the roasted tenderloin,

while my friend had the chef's special pepper steak.

Now, I've watched a lot of Top Chef on AXN and know fine dining food portions when I see it. Although the dishes tasted very good (the tenderloin was tender and juicy and tasted amazing, while the pepper steak was, at best, quite good) the portions served were so small, my face shrunk to the size of the piece of meat served. I was disappointed that the tenderloin I ordered was the size of an ice hockey puck (give or take a little), and the steak my friend ordered looked a little deflated. We were forced to order another dish, which we shared. We ordered a pasta, a tagliatelle with chicken, mushrooms, olives and asparagus.

This not only had quality, it had quantity too. Hurray!!! Hence, order pasta if you want to be 'full', while those happy with a light lunch can settle for the non pasta dishes. Another slightly dissappointing thing was that the waiter never came on his own to fill our glasses with water; we had to specifically call him. Again, maybe 'coz the place was crowded and they were busy, but come on, that can't be an excuse.

Onto the desserts, and the mango pannacotta that I had was heavenly,

while the chocolate kahlua mousse my friend had was fabulous.

Both the desserts had fabulous presentations and we were almost heartbroken to put our forks into the dish and spoil their looks. Again, they tasted great. The pannacotta's mango flavour with the strawberry (my favourite combo) below was terrific, and the mousse had a slight 'kick' to it.

All in all, a nice birthday lunch with my friend Her Highness Energy (her initials are NRG, hence Energy, and it was her birthday, not mine).

Food: Nice
$$$: Moderately expensive, around 400-500 per head
Service: Decent
Verdict: I'd like the portions to have been a little bigger, especially the meat dishes. Pastas were decently sized. Presentation topped the charts.

Toscano, The Collection - UB City, Level II, Concord Block, 24, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore. Phone: 41738800