Rest : Fifty Five East
Loc : Hyatt, Kalina, Santa Cruz
Meal : Lunch
I got the opportunity to have lunch at Fifty Five East yesterday.
Although due to open in April, the restaurant got delayed a little. FFE replaces M, the grill and is also the default breakfast space for their sprawling in house guests.
The Hyatt is a modern, minimalist business hotel, Fifty Five East, their new venture is more of the same in terms of look and feel. While most of the restaurants are one side, you walk down a long staircase to get to FFE.
The first thing that struck me was how roomy the entire place is, large, airy and well lit. It also reminded me of Thai Pavilion, which is to be expected considering this too is a Super Potato designed eatery.
The thought behind the restaurant is to offer a business restaurant with familiar cuisine in a buffet style with a twist. The menu is wide and they offer Soups, Salads, Mezze, Sushi, Thai, Grill, Indian & desserts.
The twist, is that everything is made fresh and mostly to order in the live kitchen. The ingredients are fresh and most of the dishes are created in single serve portions on the spot, while you wait. So its only priced like a buffet but does not serve or operate like one.
The dolmas were fantastic, best ones in the city and it has to be down to the freshness (i know i am going on and on about this aspect but freshness in eating out is something i have just discovered and am enjoying the idea immensely)
The other mezze they had were couscous salad, Muttabal, hummus all served with warm pita on the side.
Mashed potato was a little bland but i liked the concept as well as the presentation. A bit more effort and this one could turn into a hit.
This was the mushrooms and kidney bean salad. Very nice, a little heavy. There was also the option of having other salads made to order whilst you wait.
They have a Japanese chef onboard who has been here six months. He cranks out the Sushi when you order it. I had the yellow pepper sashimi, one with shitake and one i cant recall.Each of them was fantastic. The taste, the freshness of it all, lingers long after they have made their way down my food pipe.
The Grill section is interesting, the aspragus was great as were the yellow peppers. The stuffed potato thingy was bland though.
The dessert selection is not only expansive but also puts emphasis on some fruit based desserts which come highly recommended. The choc ice cream with cherry compote was great. Enjoyed it immensely.
The creme brulee didnt work at all though, neither did the tiramisu nor did the cheesecake. In hindsight i should have stuck to the recommendations.
The Thai Curry (not pictured here) was also quite stellar, thai pavilion good in fact.
Overall, the menu offers old favouraites with stellar execution.
Keeping things live, cooking dishes fresh and in smaller portions means the food tastes better than most other places. The concept in itself is so simple and yet is rarely if ever, followed.
Having single serve portions means, everyone can eat what they want and yet have a proper business chat without having to worry about sharing food or even wondering what to order when in a largish group.
Try and get their early though, the place was packed to the hilt by 2pm and they stopped cooking by 3.
The service staff is cheeful and fairly quick, no complaints there. Worth checking out for sure.
Food : 8/10
Service : 8/10
Damage : Meal for 2 without drinks 3500+
Sunday brunch with alchohol and pizza from Cellini 2400+ pp.
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