Café Forty4: An oriental taste in every bite
Café Forty4 is not just a regular cafe; it can be used as a venue for a range of events. The restaurant, a new addition to the eateries of the Clifton Block 4 neighbourhood, opened just a few months ago and is already creating a buzz in the city. Samina Bilgrami, one of the working partners, has been in the food and bakery business for over 25 years and has given personal attention to every little detail of the operation, making Café Forty4 an experience beyond dining. The contemporary, double-storey facility encapsulates many artistically designed seating areas. The ground floor has a total ...
Read Full PostSay Gracias if you love Spanish food
Cafe Gracias, a gorgeous new restaurant serving Mexican and Spanish cuisine, is a warm and welcome addition to Karachi’s fine dining scene. The eatery is run by sisters Sidrah and Hifza, whose love for cooking and Spanish culture resulted in this restaurant. Hifza, quit her job as a software engineer in the corporate world after three years to follow her dreams of opening a restaurant and now runs the place full-time. One of the things I instantly loved about this place was the refreshing decor and ambiance; a brightly colored and decorated space with beautiful wall murals and hanging square lamps. Each lamp shade bore a screen print on each side, which ...
Read Full PostChina Kitchen: A fine dining experience
It is hard to believe that China Kitchen opened less then 10 days ago – it is already the talk of the town. Don’t dismiss it as just another Chinese restaurant in town; China Kitchen is truly for an oriental fine dining experience. The new eatery with a seating capacity of over 45 is almost full most nights of the week. Located in the elite neighbourhood of Clifton Block-4, I was thrilled to enter a typically Chinese courtyard complete with life size Chinese murals on the walls, along with statues, artifacts and lovely dark solid wood tables. The seating area is tastefully ...
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Look, he’s got a camera!
The other night I was out with friends for dinner at a restaurant when a famous TV chef and his entourage entered the restaurant. As everyone started filling their plates the cameraman turned on a dinky light. I looked around and saw the celebrity chefs weren’t the only ones who were being filmed. Everyone in the restaurant was — of course, without unanimous consent. Surprisingly, I seemed to be the only one who had a problem with this. Suddenly, there was a wave of excitement and another spell of filming and clicking — local celebrity Zubeida apa (I hate calling ...
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Taking the ‘bad’ out of Nazimabad
At a gathering in DHA a girl walks in. “Hey, how come you’re so late?” I ask. “I just came from… well, really far away,” she says. “How far off?” “You wouldn’t know where it is,” she dismisses in an ugly voice and with an embarrassed face. I press on. “Like what, Nazimabad?” “Yeah, how’d you guess?” She tries to laugh it off. I guessed Nazimabad because I’ve stayed there and I know the ‘distance’. And I wanted her to stop acting weird about it! I should have yelled at her but decided to leave her to her own paranoia. A boy listening in to ...
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Yank-bashing over a cup of tea
Our pancakes had just arrived when we heard a loud: “Who do you think you are, you bloody CIA agent?” This was followed by a chuckle in a male voice and an accented: “What makes you think I am CIA? How can you even be sure I’m an American?” What followed was a ten-minute long loud rant, in the first hoarse female voice, complete with expletive ridden language and name calling. My mother instantly guessed it was Dr Shireen Mazari. “Who the f*** do you think you are? How can you treat a Pakistani this way? Get this man out of this restaurant or I ...
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Coffee and gunshots on Zamzama
Last August, a friend and I were sitting at Butlers Chocolate Café enjoying fancy coffees and chatting about life when suddenly, the cafe’s lights dimmed. At first, I thought the power had gone out but when I saw an expression of concern on one of the waiters’ faces, I suspected there was something greater at play. I asked the waiter if everything was okay. At first, he appeared a little hesitant to leak the news, but then he said: “Some men are firing on the main road, outside the restaurant.” It took me a minute to truly fathom what he was saying. I ...
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Olivetto: Two thumbs up for classic European cuisine
Located right next to the Russian Consulate, Karachi in a relatively peaceful neighborhood is a uniquely pleasant eatery called Olivetto. It offers authentic Italian and French cuisine made to perfection and complemented by equally delicious side orders. Tucked away from the city traffic, the restaurant is divided into two main areas – the main restaurant which can house around 50 people and an attached coffee lounge with a seating capacity of around 25. There’s a separate function hall in the basement which is reserved for ceremonies. The exterior of this aesthetically built restaurant speaks volumes for the kind of hospitality we should be ...
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Remembering the old Coffee House
Not a day goes by without somebody in the media asking me about the goings on at the Coffee House or the afternoons and evenings at the Tea House. But everybody seems to be interested only in the patrons. Wonder if anybody at all is interested in the people who waited on them and how they survived and thrived in the midst of writers, intellectuals, artists and journalists. For I am reminded today of a Coffee House waiter. Once India Coffee House closed down, Munshi Ji, moved on to Zelin’s Coffee House. After Zelin’s too had closed down I once asked ...
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Guess who’s coming to dinner
If you are dragged feet first to a dinner your intuition is warning you against, what are the chances of it actually turning out to be a fun evening? Zilch. Especially if you’re coaxed to go not because of your scintillating company, but just to make up the numbers. One lone Pakistani woman at a restaurant table in a Pakistani joint should be chaperoned by another female desi, especially with the other diners being men. In case you’re thinking that these men must be in the league of Brad Pitt/Johnny Depp or even Ali Zafar, please disabuse yourself of that delicious notion. ...
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