Cafe Ivy

Rest : Cafe Ivy
Meal : Lunch
Date : 16/11/2006
Location : Annie Beasant Road
Company : Pie

Experience - A cosy place a bit more coffee shoppish than cafeish but hey long as they sell cheap vino im there. it dosent have a lot of seating (20-25) from wht i counted. the wait staff is patch some are good some equally bad. the waiters dont know anything bout the food either. the menu is eclectic pastas, wraps, burgers, biryanis so its a bit of everything.

Drink : Chantilli Sauvignon Blanc (95 rs) a good wine, if you let it breathe for a few mins before you start on it will reward you.
Ivy Shiraz (140rs) not bad, not as good as the Sula Shiraz but adequate(i broke my own rule of not drinking reds in the day just to try it)
Ivy Brut Sparkling Wine (150rs) excellent, dry but very easy on the palate they also have the popular Pompadour (175rs)
Affogato after lunch (40 rs) not bad at all. should have let it marinade a bit, im turning into an Italian

Food : i heard bad reviews but i did want to try it for myself and i am glad that i did.

Soup : The Soup of the day was Carrot so we avoided that all together.

Salad : Exotic fruit and pasta salad in balsamic (excellent, though i find the fruits disconcerting pie didnt and it was her salad so i cant complaint) i had the greek salad and it was very nice, feta cheese and had the right kick aftertaste (both salads 50 rs)

Appetiser : Bruschetta Wow! best bruschetta in the city so far (50Rs for 2 pieces) highly recommend it.

Main Course : Spagetti Aglio Olio and Penne Arabbiata

Now the aglio olio was good, the penne was good but instead of having the spicy angle it was more on the sweetish spicy side of things (it was a good taste but not what i expected from the arrabiata) i also ordered a side of garlic bread which was pretty good.

Rating : Food 8.5/10, Service 8/10

Damage : 1000 ($22.50)

Royal China

Rest : Royal China
Meal : Lunch
Date : 12/11/2006
Location : Sterling
Company : Pie

Experience - A much anticipated visit on a busy sunday afternoon. The restaurant is well set up, comfortable, classy and the wait staff is on the money. Attentive and available.

Drink : Bloody Mary, Diet Coke

Food : Everyone needs to understand one thing. When you go to Royal china you are going to a Cantonese reastaurant vs the usual schezuan. So be aware. We started with the Tom Yum Soup which was allright and a Wanton Soup which was bloody bland though it was recommended. For a appetizer we went for something i dont know what. was recommended and i had a look at it. I swear the thing moved...it looked like it came out of the Alien from the Aliens II. it tasted alien too. i for the first time in history sent a dish back.

After that we got some pan fried noodles in black bean sauce with vegetables. The noodles were good, tasty, crispy and didnt need another entree with it. Was a complete noodle and entree in itself.

Overall i was dissapointed. I dont think id go back, its not bad, its just not for me.

Rating : Food 7/10, Service 9/10

Damage : 901 ($20 ) they were kind enough to not charge us for the alien baby