Reservations only!

A gourmet restaurant does not have to measure up in the food department alone. Fine dining includes courteous service as well

By Mohammad A. Qayyum

Having had the occasion to eat at some of the highest rated restaurants, Jean Georges and Le Bernadin in New York, a handful more (Pied a Terre, Locanda Locatelli, Aurora, the Grill Room) in London and Paris, I find that Café Aylanto has one thing in common with all these top-of-the-line eateries. Like these other snooty gourmet places, the recently opened Café Aylanto in Lahore, despite being a café certainly has airs about it and, in an effort to be exclusive, almost seems to make an effort to make you feel unwelcome and uncomfortable. Café Aylanto may, at times, serve you some of the best food available in Lahore but makes one wonder whether it really is a place worth visiting.

I admit that it would not have been fair if I had formed such an opinion over just one visit, but I have been there quite a few times. In fact, it all started excellently with me being blown away on my first visit to the restaurant with the utterly brilliant food it offered. The first time I wandered in during the day following up on the significant word-of-mouth buzz in the city and was amazed at the quality of the lunch. Thereafter, my experience has left a bit to be desired.

The first thing I have found rather grating is the policy regarding walk-ins, i.e. they rarely entertain even if there seems to be space. After the first time, I visited the place with guitarist Mekaal Hassan and a friend for dinner. Despite the place being somewhat empty we were turned away rather abruptly. "We do not have any space," we were told. We said we could wait. The maitre d' was even more abrupt in answering, "We will not be having any space at all tonight. Sorry." I guess not even being with an upcoming music star was enough to sidle us in. Even Zouk, Mezzo or the other more exclusive restaurants like Royal Elephant and Fujiyama in their pomp and at their busiest were never like this.

That made me a bit ambivalent about reviewing the Café. A branch of the Karachi mainstay, it has only recently and quite quietly come to town, being hidden away just opposite the ever-hot Café Zouk on M.M. Alam Road. Nevertheless, to be fair in my review the next time I even made a reservation for two in advance.

I ended up entering the restaurant at 8:30 pm on a Tuesday night and immediately sensed that this would not be too pleasant an experience: the parking attendant-cum-guard made me re-park my car thrice until it was parked precisely to his liking. The thick outside-gate to the restaurant and the intimidating shotgun-bearing guard were even more ominous at night as I edged past the guard in to the reception.

The restaurant was empty barring one couple, yet it took the maitre d' over two minutes to scan the reservation list and then lead me to a seat. My partner in cuisine soon joined me. She confirmed that the reputation of the place was great and that the only one time she had checked the place out, she had loved it.

As we perused the menu, the dishes offered therein appeared quite sumptuous: a wide variety of chicken, fish and pasta dishes were on offer. Yet the presentation of the menu was a tad tacky, being on laminated photocopied paper. Moreover, the menu really could do well with having blurbs about each individual dish on it. One did not know what half of the dishes were and had to ask the equally confused waiter about most of them.

Both of us ordered Tomato Soup to begin with, and an Anti-Pasta Greek Style to share. For the main course, I chose to have the Chicken Crab in Avocado Sauce, while my dinner companion went for the Char grilled Steak Dijionite/ Pepper Steak.

While we waited for our soup and salad, the waiter brought over the breadbasket. It contained bread and butter sprinkled with mint, each of which was fresh and really delicious. Munching on the bread, I looked around to take in the ambience. Actually the room is set up more like a dinner hall or a tearoom than a café. The music was in the beginning tastefully low, but tended to get louder as the night proceeded. The selection of music with Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five' currently played was spot on.

Comfort for cafes certainly should be the operative word. Not so here. Most restaurants tend not to get the point that cafes are generally supposed to be laid back, places to relax. Zouk is certainly clueless on this score. Aylanto seems to be pressing hard to make the same boo-boo. The furniture certainly fits the café look but it is hardly comfortable. The tables for couples are certainly a tad too small, but perhaps that is the idea. There is no excuse for the chairs being so hard and uncomfortable. After being spoiled at the Polo Lounge, these chairs were not comparable. But then again, perhaps the difference is that Polo Lounge is a lounge and Café Aylanto only promises to be a café. Still, offering a bit of comfort for a fine meal might not be too much to ask for.

Soon enough, the soups and anti-pasta came. The service was certainly prompt and the soup was well served and warm. It was just the right thick consistency and utterly brilliant tasting. One, however, did need more croutons, and the waiter was kind enough to bring a fresh batch. However, the anti-pasta was extremely disappointing: it was overcooked and as a consequence too hard.

By 9:15, the mellow café we had started off in had slowly turned into a loud dinner hall. The music was being playing louder, a la Zouk and the room now had a fish market ambience with everyone chattering away. Certainly the 'hip crowd' was there in total force.

The main course came soon enough and was exceptionally good. The chef appeared to have made an effort to make the food not only taste but also look good. High gourmet points were scored here, with presentation certainly given due attention as well. I loved my chicken while my friend's steak was fairly excellent. Some of the garnishes with the food (especially the chicken) were, however, inedible. We argued over whether the garnishes were to be eaten with the food or not. My friend insisted that all garnishes are supposed to be edible. I tried a little of it, but it tasted more like grass and so I left it.

Since both of us were wary of the flu bug going around, none of us had ordered any drinks. Mineral water was the order of the day. I did, however, query about white grape juice as it would have gone excellently with the chicken, but there was none available. Actually most of the food being offered on the menu would be perfectly complemented with red or white grape juice (non-alcoholic champagne actually). The management might want to consider making the same available.

Minor irritants during the evening kept adding up. First there was a glass accidentally broken by a waiter (it happens often at Aylanto). Second, the voices of all those who were present seemed to boom too loudly in the room. Thirdly, when my friend asked for tap water (she doesn't like the taste of mineral water), the waiter informed us that they only serve mineral water. When asked amusedly if they used mineral water for cleaning their dishes too and if he could fill a glass from that tap, the waiter refused.

While I was jotting notes, my friend amused herself by looking out the window and keeping count of people without reservations being turned away. Khawar Riaz and his friends were also turned away. So at least the Café is egalitarian in being snooty: it turns away known names too.

The evening was not turning out to be all that enjoyable. Still, we ordered dessert as an afterthought -- it was the chocolate fudge cake. Served perfectly fresh with warm fudge, of the right texture and well decorated, but it was not all that. Better cakes can be fetched from regular dessert spots, most notable being Hobnob in Defence.

Looking at the menu all the food seems a bit overpriced. Of the restaurant, an overwhelming question remained: Is it really worth frequenting despite the generally good food? Wouldn't one rather go to Royal Elephant or Fujiyama to be literally fawned over? Even Zouk and Freddy's make you feel special. Aylanto certainly doesn't.

I have been to the restaurant twice ever since the review visit. Once a friend dragged me along without a reservation at 8:00 pm on a weekday. Even though the restaurant was completely empty, we were turned away. We left fuming. Lastly, I went again yesterday because I had to rectify what I thought were my prejudices about Aylanto. I made reservations and this time they gave me a rather nice table, unlike my previous visit. I tried the Cream of Tomato Soup again: it was not as thick and good as I had previously had there. The Chicken with Blue Cheese was however excellent and well worth the high price.

All in all, I came back fortified in my earlier conclusion: Café Aylanto remains a place one can let oneself be dragged to. The food is brilliant but does one really need to put up with the aggravation? Actually, I will give the last word on the restaurant to the management itself. While confirming some facts for this article, I phoned and asked the management whether they had a by-reservations-only policy: the gentleman answering replied that 'no, but we prefer it and we are so seeking to educate people.' Call me an ignoramus, but I'd rather not care to be so educated. I prefer to be treated royally by restaurants I pay good money to. Perhaps Aylanto can start a delivery service and life would thus be peachy.