Review: Il Forno

Il Forno has been around for as long as I can remember. I think it made its debut when Abu Dhabi Mall opened its doors in the capital some time around the turn of the millennium. In my mind that's just yesterday, but in reality, it has been a decade. Anyway, Il Forno touts itself as an authentic Italian eatery, and while I think some of the items on their extensive menu border on the unique, I have a beef with some of their recipes/ingredients - pun intended.

Now despite being a foodie, I have to admit that I'm not much of a cook. I don't have the guts to handle raw meat and feel nauseous even looking at or smelling it, so that has greatly limited my exposure to cooking. But if there's one thing that I CAN put together in no time while ensuring that it tastes above average, it's red pasta sauce. And this is where Il Forno falters. In my humble opinion and not-so-limited experience, they need to tweak their red sauce a.s.a.p. because the current one tastes stale (on more than one occasion, at different venues) with an antiseptic aftertaste (go easy on the herbs maybe?). As a result, every item incorporating their red sauce is tainted with those flavors, completely ruining almost half the dishes on their menu. The other ingredient is their ground meat. I wish I could say it's tasteless, but it does have a very mild taste which is not too pleasant at all. I can't put my finger on what it is, but to me, it is a bit like chewing shredded tissue paper. As a result, I'm not going to be craving their Pizza Di Buffalo (AED 25) or Tagliatelle Bistesca (AED 35) any time soon, and their Spaghetti Bolognese is going to be something of a double whammy as you can imagine!

After my unpleasant run in with the aforementioned, I subconsciously fell into the habit of avoiding the place. Recently, I came across their revamped menu and decided to give it another go, this time opting for a 'Secondo' (Main Course) instead of the usual pastas. The decision turned out to be a good one as the Bistecca Alla Rosemarino (AED 71) was memorable for all the right reasons. The fancy sounding name loosely translates from Italian to char grilled steak with glazed rosemary and artichoke hearts sauce. The serving size was generous, the steaks perfectly cooked all the way through yet moist and juicy, the butter and artichoke heart sauce moreish and the grilled vegetables and baked potato perfectly done yet fresh. This was easily one of the best steaks I've had, so I guess Il Forno has found a way to redeem itself in my books with their mains.

Surprisingly, despite dining there several times over the years, I am yet to try any of their white sauce pastas. I should perhaps go back for that, but there's a reason why experience is so highly rated and mine says: Go for the mains.

Eric Kayser - Restaurant Review

I can't believe it has been almost three! years since my last update. I kept thinking I'd get around to doing a new post soon but that time never came, and before I knew it, three years had flown by. I am as passionate and picky about my food as ever. I have explored numerous restaurants around town and even outside town since the last time I posted here. Unfortunately, they have not been chronicled as I would've liked, and there were some unique experiences that I am now having a hard time recalling, but I'll try my best to pick up where I left off.

Ever since UAE became host to several group-discount sites in 2010, I have gone jet skiing, rode camels, beach buggies and went dune bashing while on a desert safari and just returned from a dhow dinner cruise all the way in Dubai. The group-discount sites have also opened up a world of (discounted) eating options. While most of the places featured are affordable anyway, I think it is the smarter option to pay half the bill amount with a simple online purchase.

Eric Kayser is one of several European style cafes that have popped up in the past few years. I was having second thoughts about trying out this cafe, but their promise of wood fire pizza tipped my decision in their favor. The cafe is located in Abu Dhabi Mall, just beside the more popular Mugg & Bean franchise. Soon after placing our order, we were given complementary bread bites with zaatar and labneh dips (sadly, not pictured). That was a little unexpected given the theme and feel of the place, but it was a tangy, light opening to our lunch.

The items I picked were the ones that appealed to me in the featured pictures in their menu. I can be a visual person when it comes to food, and although AED 40+ for a salad seemed a little hefty, I could not get the thought the Caesar Salad with Grilled Shrimps (AED 29+15) out of my mind. It arrived looking extremely inviting. The shrimps were perfectly grilled and ample (although my friend who later visited the outlet and ordered the same salad based on my recommendation complained about the few, scattered pieces of shrimp tossed in), the parmigiano-reggiano shavings was sharp (and generous - most places are careful with how much of that cheese they incorporate into their salads as its price is on the steep side in this part of the world) and the Caesar dressing tangy. The portion size was also generous and more than enough for two. I was pretty full by the time the mains and side order arrived , but the light nature of the salad allowed me tuck into them anyway.

For mains, I had ordered the Rucula and Bresaola Pizza (AED 48) and EK Club Sandwich (AED 39), with a side order of Sauteed Potatoes with Garlic and Coriander (AED 16). It may have been the lack of proper seasoning, but I found the much touted wood fire pizza rather boring. The club sandwich was also not much to write home about and nothing about it stood out. The accompanying fries like the store-bought frozen variety when most places of EK's projected standard make their own fresh fries. The side order was also forgettable. For drinks we had opted for Lemon Iced Tea (AED 15) and Fresh Watermelon Juice (AED 18). The iced tea could easily pass for Lipton's canned version which I am very fond of, and I was a little disappointed that they had again not gone through the effort of making their own.

A little word on the service - once our order had been taken, the servers were very hard to get hold of. We had to wait atleast 5-10 minutes before we got someone's attention to fetch our bill. Once we did receive the bill and presented our voucher for redemption, the server applied it to the wrong table and we had to wait a further 10 minutes before he returned with the right pending balance, which I paid after walking up to the cash register myself since no one was coming to collect it after a further 5 minute wait. For a restaurant that isn't too busy, this level of service was disappointing.

Would I go back? Probably not to dine in, but to takeaway a bowl of that lovely salad.

The week that was

I think it's the season of re-visiting old favourites 'cause I spent the last week eating at places I haven't been to in a year. There's something comforting about spotting your usual order in the sea of unfamiliar items crowding the updated menu. And it's a little funny when you can't quite recall why you stopped eating there in the first place!

Duo Delight @ Pizza Hut

Anyway, I started my trip down memory lane by trying to make peace with Pizza Hut. Usually, I'm the one dissuading others from going there, but this time, I was the one to suggest we have dinner there.

Since it was just my mother and me, we opted for the 'Duo Delight' - a combo meal that included a regular salad, four garlic breads, chicken BBQ roll (not pictured), a medium pizza and two drinks. I had almost forgotten all about the sweet, tangy goodness of the creamy salad, so I was glad to be eating there that night. The garlic bread was just right, and by the time we finished the rolls, we had room for only one pizza slice each. The remaining slices were duly packed by the attentive waitress for us to take home. I had a pretty nice time at Pizza Hut and the experience sort of made me ponder over why I had been avoiding the place for so long. I guess the menu can become boring if you eat there regularly, but it's not so bad that you avoid it like the plague (like I had been doing!).
Price: AED 50 for the meal, excluding service charge
Available at: Pizza Hut outlets on Hamdan Street, Khalifa Street and Airport Road.
Worth the money? On this occasion, yes!

Dinner buffet @ Caravan

Next stop was Caravan. My friend, Sana, took us to dinner there on the occasion of passing her driving test. I don't remember the last time I ate there, but I did have their buffet a few times so I was able to recognise some of the items that had survived the test of time. There was the Chicken Cashew Stir-fry and Aloo Chaana. Besides those two, the buffet was a mix of Indian, Chinese and Thai dishes. My friends and I were so hungry after the long, meal-less day we had at university that we went straight for the main course without pausing at the salad bar. My favourite item was the Chicken Lollypop (top left of the plate in the second picture), and coming from a non-chicken eater, that's a huge compliment. I apologise for the rather messy appearance of my plate, but I had basically dumped everything on it without caring much about what went where. I loved the variety of the main courses, but the desserts were a huge disappointment. My friends and I were excited at the sight of Rasmalai, but they turned out to be a pale imitation of the real deal. They tasted like they had been sweetened using some cheap artificial sweetner. The Umm Ali and Gulab Jamun were alright, but the initial disappointment of the Rasmalai made the whole dessert experience rather bitter.
Price: AED 49 per head
Available at: Caravan Restaurant, Electra Street
Worth the money? If you fill up on the main courses.

Shish Kofta, Fried Hamour and dessert @ Golden Fork

Every time I'd pass Golden Fork, it'd be packed with people. There was a time when I would eat there often because there are two branches near my house, but for some reason they had fallen out of favour with me the last few years. I was actually headed to KFC when I decided to make a detour and find out why the place is always teeming with people. And I think I found out why. Their new menu is extensive and covers a wide variety of cuisines, and the prices are very reasonable. To top it off, they provide complementary soup and bread. My mom opted for the Fried Hamour while I went for the Shish Kofta. Now I'm not a fan of sea-food, and there are only a few selected types of fish that I eat when they're cooked a certain way (deep-fried), but the Fried Hamour was one of the best fish dish I ever tasted. The Shish Kofta wasn't bad either, and it came with fries and two puri breads. For dessert, I went for the 'Watermelon Fantasy' - little scoops of watermelon drizzled with strawberry sauce. All in all, it was a very enjoyable meal even though the interiors and furniture weren't the best.
Price: Shish Kofta AED 16, Fried Hamour AED 15, Watermelon Fantasy AED 10
Available at: Golden Fork outlets on Hamdan Street, Khalifa Street and Khalidiyah Street.
Worth the money? An emphatic yes.

Here we go!

I've been wanting to have a food blog for as long as I can remember, and I finally decided to do something about it! I don't know if the blog skin is representative of who I am since I'm not a big fan of cup-cakes, icing, lowercases or random heart shapes, but I was looking for something fresh and sparse that was related to eatables, and this was the only one that fit the bill. You'd be forgiven for picturing me as a spotty, obese teenager who sits in front of her computer all day eating and talking about food, but I'd like to think that I'm none of those. I have a pretty hectic life with university occupying most of my time, and I strictly believe in moderation when it comes to food (and other things too for that matter). Anyway, this blog is an ode to the thing that instantly lifts my spirits, vitalises me, and gives me something to look forward to when there's nothing else - food!

I've managed to take pictures of some of my meals over the last few months, but I plan to be more diligent about capturing everything on camera now that this blog is up and running. Anyway, I am going to post pictures of some of the recent things I ate and review them.

Imli Fries @ New York Fries

It's been ages since I last had New York Fries 'cause my last experience wasn't a a very pleasant one. I decided to try out their new 'Imli fries' as the pizza I had ordered was going to take 20 minutes and I was famished. The fries turned out to be better than I expected, but the 'imli' (tamarind) sauce on top was disappointing. It would probably taste a little bland to those who are familiar with the sharp contrast of sweet and sour in authentic tamarind sauces prepared in South Asia. The fries were crispy and hot though, and the greens on top tasted great on their own.
Price: AED 12
Available at: Khalidiyah Mall Food Court, Abu Dhabi
Worth the price? Maybe. I think it could be cheaper.
A good tip for trying out these fries would be to have friends to share them with...remember, moderation is key!

Individual Meal @ Papa Jone's

My current favourite pizza place is Papa Jone's. I always opt for the vegetable pizza since I can't go wrong with that (not a fan of chicken, and I don't always enjoy pepperoni and ground beef on my pizza - I guess this is where the picky bit comes in!). This time, I went for the meal-for-one, which included a small pizza, wedges and coke. Having just had the fries, I decided to take the wedges home and worked my way through the pizza. I think it has something to do with the cheese they use...their pizzas taste divine to me - a lot like the 90's Pizza Hut, whose quality has sadly diminished in recent years.
Price: AED 19
Available at: Khalidiyah Mall Food Court, Abu Dhabi
Worth the price? Yes. But try to opt for the meals as they will help you save a few bucks.