Orange Peel at Zync Cafe

The week proceeding to my leaving back to Australia was filled with lots of farewell meals. One such occasion was a dinner with just the ladies. Having picked out the day, we discussed a couple of option before deciding on a "new Spanish restaurant" my mum's colleague had suggested the week before. We ventured out for dinner, expecting to be greeted by appetisers of Chirizo Sausage, Olives and Croquettes, and sated with platters of Paella accompanied by pitchers of Sangria. My mother's friend obviously cannot tell the difference of a tortilla from a pancake or a even a dosa! But enough about the identity-crisis.

Enter Orange Peel, located at Zync Cafe, right next to Safina Plaza: A banner advertises a live tepanyaki counter. Confusing! But, having debated over that as an dinner option earlier, I excitedly tumble out of the car, thinking I would sample some.

Once seated it turns out the restaurant serves world cuisine with a European touch, and the twist: tepanyaki available only upon requested when making table reservations.

Our options narrowed we decide to surf the menu and pick from whatever was available. To start we ordered some cocktails and shared a salad.

Passionfruit and Mango Movenpick Sorbet with Rum (back), Pina Colada with Movenpick Sorbet (front)

Norwegian Salmon with Lettuce, Sun-dried Tomatoes

Impressed by the salad, the interesting method of pickling the Salmon, the subtle sour lemony zest combined with the crunchy Iceberg Lettuce leaves and Dill to finish we anticipated the rest of our meal.

Duck a l'orange

John Dory in a light lemon butter sauce
Egyptian Lamb Chops encrusted with Dukkah

All three mains were enjoyable, we were all happy with a wonderfully surprising evening. The shocker came when the bill came out with a ridiculous abomination of service surcharges.
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But the story does not end there. My mother decided it would be smart to enlighten her friend that the meal at the restaurant she recommended was neither reasonably priced, nor was it Spanish cuisine, to save her from possible embarassment in the future.

After some hesitation, she mentioned that having skimmed through the menu it looked like most dishes were priced at roughly Rs. 200/- (This is not true, the appetisers are Rs. 200/- while mains are Rs. 500/-) and that she and her husband had ordered two bottle of wine and had taken their kids along which meant four meals. Her voice then started to trail ... and she spilled the beans.

"Oh, you know when it came to dessert, everyone was digging in, having enjoyed the meal, the dessert was the perfect ending. I waited till everyone had finished before calling the waiter over to inform him about a cockroach in my dessert. They were so apologetic that they waived our bill, and since the food was so good, I decided I must tell people about this place. After all, it is India, these things happen."

The only response I had was, if she does this to her friends, how does she treat her enemies?

Wander over at your own peril ... but don't say that I didn't warn you!