The advantage of food blogging is that you get to see a restaurant as a regular customer would. And can be frank about what you write. The weakness compared to an organised review is that you do not get to taste a larger range of what a place has to offer. I prefer the former though. I feel constrained when I am at an organised review. Even if the food is free. I feel bowed down by the weight of my host's expectations. With the Chef at his conscious best.
The problem for the reader of 'blog reviews' is that you get feedback on very few dishes. Even if this is from the heart. You don't get a perspective on the whole range on offer.
One solution is for readers to drop in their comments for all to see if they have gone to the same place. Shaswati's comment on Bespoke Cafe was a good example as we got to know about dishes (omelette, black bean burger) beyond what I had written about. Or you have to wait for blogger to return to a place and try out more things.
We did so at Yellow Tree when Kainaz took mom and me for lunch on Saturday.
The occasion was Banu's French leave. Well I was really pleased with the experience this time too. Felt good to see that a new place, which I had praised, live up to my recommendation of it. Felt like a proud parent.
The service was competent. The waiter was middle aged. Not really suave. But knew his job and answered our questions satisfactorily.
Kainaz ordered grilled chicken sausages with peppers. The dish was a riot of colours. The taste lived up to it. The sausages were very succulent. They had drizzled some pesto sauce which took the sausages to the next level. There were large pieces of bell pepper which had a nice bite to them and weren't chunky at all. A very promising start to the meal.
My tenderloin steak arrived. Medium done. One bite and I knew that it was a 70 mm blockbuster. The meat was really tender. Had a fresh, pink hue to it of meat which was cooked to perfection. Meat whose pedigree didn't need to be hidden by over cooking or torching. Each bite of beef melted this pork lover's heart. It wasn't just meat. It was a seven year itch. I couldn't have had the whole thing by myself and K helped me with a few forkfuls. Living up to her wedding vows.
Mom had a 'healthy' plate of fish and chips. I took a few satisfactory bites. They had put a slight masala marinade to make Old Blighty's former national dish more palatable in the real land of chicken tikka masala.
Happy with our dishes, my eyes begun to stray to the next table. A couple there had ordered a focaccia bread sandwich. I was really happy to see the bread look resplendent in its original glory. Different from the grilled and flattened focaccia bread served in most places. I nodded in approval.
We left Yellow Tree in a happy mood. Knowing that we would return again.
i didn't really have a good experience at yellow tree. Took a table on the 1st floor next to a window overlooking the road. happy. then a few friends of the chef arrived and we were asked to move to another sad little corner table as they wanted to join a few tables.. we refused. then the beer was not chilled. the waiter told us it is. err..sorry i can feel it is not so. then the bread to go with the meal didn't turn up till the meal was over.....we waited and ate in sheer frustration once no response was coming. the bread actually turned up once i'd closed my plate. i sent it back. till then i still hadn't lost my cool. But erupted when i saw the bread on the bill. asked for it to be taken off and never went back.
i guess experiences are like that . a one off like this does happen but i must say in a place which offers a plethora of choices i didn't feel the need to go back. would have if they'd been nicer about the goof ups.
I think a review is incomplete without comments on the dessert. So one more trip seems due.