There are some places you love because its so pretty that it takes your breath away. C wanted to go to Spaghetti Kitchen because the last time she had been to Forum, she had stared at Spaghetti Kitchen for nearly 4 minutes, and then heaved a sigh. That sigh told me that the next time she got her salary, she just HAD to go eat there.
I always know when doomsday is approaching.
I apologize in prior for the yellow-tinged photographs. However, the seating arrangement was to be blamed for it. Not me.
Never me.
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| Tabletop. I love. |
So we sit down after the guy at the door slowly take us to a table. We really wanted to sit at a quiet corner, but the man pointed us to a two-seater near the windows, which offered us no view but the television on my end and virtually nothing on C’s end. However, we decided to concentrate on the menu since the two of us were short of time, and wanted to finish lunch before heading off to shop.
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| Condiments. |
It took the waiter nearly 10 minutes to approach us to take our order, after the two of us looked around at waiters quite pointedly. I was quite sure of what I wanted, I had eyed it on a previous visit, so wanted it for my own this time. C wanted Pasta, so we decided to go for two mains and a starter.
I am going to be honest. I am not exactly sure of individual prices since I forgot to take the bill (silly me!) but I would tell you the total in the end. However, I remember the price zone our starter was in – around 350/- or so. I had my heart set on the chicken wings, but C wanted them, so we ordered it.
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| Tangy Chicken Rolls |
Five inch-long chicken rolls came to us, and was divvied up meticulously by a solemn waiter, resting on a bed of what suspiciously looked like Scotch Brite dishwashing pad. Both C and I poked at our halves, and I manfully cut a slice and put it in my mouth. It was a cake of spinach, pan-fried and then cut to assume the shape. To be very honest, I found this overly salted, and not to my liking. The chicken squirted a generous measure of cheese, and the cheese sauce was nice, but nothing to write home about. The portion was tiny, to be very frank, and I was quite unaffected by it as a whole.
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| Bread Basket |
Then was a wait which was pretty long. During this, impatiently I ordered a diet Pepsi (85/-) and it came quite quickly, with a glass. I asked for some ice, which also came in promptly. A bread basket was set in front of us, along with a small bowl of butter.
The bread basket had two each of herb-laden rolls, flat bread sticks, a nice ball of multigrain brown bread, and a slice of olive Focaccia. C started her attack on the bread, and despite my warning, filled up on it. I tried the multigrain, which was nice, but I hated the fact that both the bread and butter were really cold. Why would someone give us bread AND butter which was cold, and thus, not spreadable at all?
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| Fusilli Con Polo e Funghi : Fusilli pasta tossed with chicken, wild mushroom ragout and creamy green-peppercorn sauce |
Now, halfway down C’s breadfest, our mains were served. C got the pasta first. The pasta was a huge portion of chicken, mushrooms and pasta in a herbed cream sauce, with mild hits of peppercorn. C’s eyes widened as the dish was set before her, and she looked at me in wide-eyed disbelief (because after our measly starter, she had thought our mains would be too, although I had assured her before that they were pretty generous with their main course).
On top of it was thin slices of what looked like truffle to me, but I don’t think it was that, because that decadent truffle scent was missing from it. There was one shave of Parmesan cheese, unlike the “shavings” that was promised, a mild disappointment, but the dish overall was nice. I liked the creaminess which belied an undercurrent of heat, and a little shake of red pepper flake brought the dish out well. The sauce itself was rich, and perfect for dipping your bread in.
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| Pollo Al Porcini – grilled chicken stuffed with Fontina and herbed pesto bread crumbs, on a bed of grilled vegetables and olive mash with a porcini mushroom jus |
I was not expecting this dish to be as messy-looking as it was. That said, my dish was probably the tastiest of the three. Perfectly grilled chicken breast was cut in half, to allow Fontina cheese to pour out of it, with mushroom jus poured over it. The green thing you see is the pesto and Fontina that was used to stuff the chicken, and the olive mash was nothing more than a bed of mashed potatoes studded with some chopped olives. As you can see, the presentation was quite messy, but at least the dish tasted good. At 580/- (I remember!) this was the most expensive of the three, and it was worth every cent. The Fontina cheese and pesto was perfectly melting around the chicken, and I quickly sopped some up with the herby crescent roll, and then I looked at the rest of the dish. Grilled vegetables consisted of three pieces of zucchini, which I left on the plate because they were under-cooked, one steamed broccoli floret and one weirdly cut carrot piece, which was probably there for the decor, as it was tough and raw. I did not touch those things. However, the mash more than made up for the rest. It was silky, and had olives on it for texture.
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| Messy Presentation. |
The mushroom jus was another hit. Although I must say, I was skeptical about the Porcini bit, because the mushrooms tasted very similar to Shiitake, and correct me if I am wrong, but there is a subtle woodiness in porcini which translates into meatiness in Shiitake. However, I might be completely wrong here. I was absolutely in love with the richness of it, end dunked my roll into it to get to the last bits from the corner of my bowl.
We were too full for dessert, and declined smilingly when the server asked us about it. The bill came to about 1875/-. I guess Spaghetti Kitchen will merit at least two more visits before I can make up my mind about it. Although I have eaten here before, every time my meal has been a mixed bag, and I need to come to a decision about it soon.
Spaghetti Kitchen
4th Floor
Forum Mall
Elgin Road
Kolkata
