Thai Beef Salad is juicy and succulent, laden on a bed of rocket leaves with sesame seeds. PHOTO: PUBLICTY
LAHORE:
Polo Lounge is one of Lahore’s oldest restaurants, known for its location and quality food. Its menu is inspired by the tastes of the subcontinent, Far East, Middle East and Europe. Recently the restaurant was hit by a controversy when someone posted fake images of the eatery on social media that lead to a decline in the business. Aasma Ramday, the managing partner of the restaurant, says that legal action has been taken against the individual.
“We have always been known for our consistency in quality and hygiene of our food,” Ramday said. She disclosed that the menu is never entirely changed but new items are added quite often and things work well with them. Their latest offering is the BBQ summer menu and this is how the experience of having it unfolds.
Quality 4.5/5
The ‘oldie but goldie’ summer salad was a light and crunchy mix of grapes, apples, walnuts over a bed of iceberg lettuce drizzled with balsamic dressing. The dressing set off the sweetness of the walnut nougat which made for an intriguing contrast of flavours. Next came their Thai Beef Salad, which slashed the saying ‘healthy food is not tasty’ in every bite. The beef was juicy and succulent, laden on a bed of rocket leaves with sesame seeds. Ramday accounts the reason for the freshness of the leaves to the fact that they are grown in a vegetable patch across the restaurant. Next up, their Lebanese Platter was a delightful fusion of flavours of the Far East with a local twist. The chicken and beef was presented with an aubergine and yogurt dip, a garlic dip and a red chilli dip, as local taste buds love spices.
Next we tried two entrees of the char grilled variety, one slightly stronger than the other. The beef with green peppercorn cheese sauce was done to a perfect medium rare. The flavours of the sauce and vegetables blended well for the taste buds. The chicken with basil and cherry tomatoes, however, was on the dryer side in comparison to the beef but both had a distinctive taste.
Now that we were done with our main course, we tried the White Chocolate Brownie from the desserts, presented with a piping hot caramel sauce that sizzled our senses of gastronomic delight. It was filled with raisins and nuts with vanilla ice cream as a sideline. The Strawberry Pavlova on the other hand had a lovely mix of vanilla ice cream, strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries.
Atmosphere 4.5/5
It is tucked in between two full size polo fields, with an occasional view of some of the finest horses or a polo match in full throttle. The Polo Lounge offers indoor as well as al fresco dining, which only seems favourable in summers, during a polo match. We chose to sit indoors. With comparatively moderate temperature, the tables spread out in a manner to provide adequate privacy. The music on occasion did get louder than necessary.
Presentation 5/5
The Polo Lounge must get full marks for their presentation skills that enhanced our visual senses. They have excelled the art of plating food. The platters are big enough to let each food item stand out but also accommodate portions wisely to maintain the quantity with quality.
Service 5/5
The restaurant has a friendly well-trained staff, which is prompt with their serving without hovering or rushing. Our food was brought to us in a timely manner and served with them paying special attention to the way our forks were lined as to notice whether or not we were done with a particular entrée.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2015.
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