Worth it for the peppy “fashion café” interiors alone, though there is food for every taste too
Atmospherics: The best part of this café on two floors is the interiors. Broad black and white stripes combine with vibrant colours and an attractive collage on the first floor that occupies a whole wall. The first floor also has an airy, well-lit private dining room that seats a dozen people. Because of the menu: Mediterranean, with pasta, pizzas, mezze and Moroccan and Lebanese dishes, the café remains full to bursting throughout the day and attracts far more ladies than men for some reason. Dinner is the lean time for Pout. If it has nothing specifically to do with the fashion world, it certainly has the look of a fashion bistro in St Petersburg or Milan.
Table talk: While the interiors have been put together with passion, verve and artistry, the same cannot be said about the food which is a trifle Indianized. Having ordered a non-vegetarian Mediterranean mezze platter (Rs 1245) I decided to stick to the Middle East region for the entire meal. The platter, served on a three-tiered brightly coloured charlie, was one of the highlights, as much for the presentation as for the value – it can easily be shared between three or four persons as a starter. Consisting of five dips – hummus, muhammara, baba ghanoush, cacik and beetroot hummus, three types of kebab and tabouleh, it embodied today’s approach to eating: the package has to be stronger than the content. The Lebanese kafta (Rs 595) fared better, being minced lamb kebabs on a seekh. The Moroccan coriander chicken (Rs 595) was a main course dish and had only a vague hint of the flavours of Morocco.
Plus and minus: The hours between lunch and dinner usually see a slump in restaurants. In Pout Café, that’s the time when you will be hard pressed to snaffle a table. On the minus side is their pricing policy. A simple single espresso is Rs 250 and a double espresso Rs 400. That is as much as a five star hotel. There is hardly any difference between the pricing of a starter and a main course, just as there isn’t much difference between the portion size of either. On the whole, prices are unjustifiably high.
Must try: pannacotta, Margarita pizza, cold coffee
Ratings
Food 3.00
Service 3.00
Décor 3.50
6 N-Block Market, Greater Kailash 1
Tel 011-40578361
Open from 12 noon to 12 midnight
Credit cards accepted; alcohol served,
