Battisputali is on its way to becoming the next Jhamsikhel with a slew of new eateries. Four month old Cafe 32 announced itself as one of the coolest joints in the neighbourhood. The expansive two storey eatery has indoor and outdoor sitting complete with a bar and live music performance.
The menu looked as impressive as the decor with a selection of Chinese, Indian, Mexican, and Continental dishes. However, the restaurant's glittering facade fell apart the moment our first order arrived. And from then on, it was all downhill.
The mushroom soup (Rs 90) looked like clear soup, but was far from refreshing. The toast accompanying the wishy-washy soup tried to pass off as garlic bread with shreds of garlic sprinkled on top, and failed miserably.
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Since nothing from the Mexican selection was available we settled for Salad Nicoise (Rs 170) which was a clumsy mix of tuna, green beans, boiled eggs, and olive seeds. It felt like the chef had simply dumped a can of tuna and a random mix of vegetable and poured a generous portion of oil. The Cheese Balls (Rs 190) didn't get our taste buds rolling either. The eight nibble size pieces oozed disappointment and not melting cheese. Although the balls were crisp on the outside, the cheese was scarce and they tasted like soggy bread pakodas.
For mains, Supreme Chicken Imperial (Rs 225) smothered in creamy white sauce was well-cooked and stuffed with luscious mushroom and spinach. The butter rice accompanying it along with mixed greens was however dripping in oil almost overpowering the succulent chicken.
The bland Spaghetti Bolognese (Rs 185) didn't do much to our appetite. It resembled fried noodles with minced meat and lacked a generous serving of cheese.
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Pork Sizzler (Rs 390), like many other dishes weren't available so we had to settle for the chicken variety or no sizzler at all. But before we could take in the taste of the tender chicken, the salty sauce spoiled the rather delectable sizzler. The canned mushroom and the overall greasiness only made things worse.
We were hoping for a sweet end to our otherwise disastrous meal with chocolate pudding. But the manager suggested we try rice pudding instead because the chocolate pudding wasn't good and the other dessert items weren't, you guessed it, available.
The slow service and disoriented, clueless waiters added icing on our missing cake. Although not as expansive and buzzing with live music there are plenty of other options along the same lane to satiate your growling stomach. Maybe in a few months Cafe 32 will have found its missing ingredients and become worthy of a second shot.
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