Restaurant review: TFO - The Factory Outlet (world cuisine)

There are so many new generation restaurants spread over the city , that you are suddenly spoilt for choice. And while the city has been a major playground for cafes, multicuisine and Indian experiments, it is actually the enviable proliferation of colonial European cuisine that excites us. Add to that the newworld Mediterranean flavours and you have a definitive successful formula.

TFO or The Factory Outlet is the latest offering from the house of Ivory and Shisha. Perched on the fifth floor of the busy Camac Street mall address, it ushers us into a candy-floss world of its own.


DECOR

If lollies are your favourite this summer, TFO will have you wired in no time. Bright interiors with shades of candy pink, candy orange and candy purple, culminate in a candy floss machine on display -serving candy floss on request, other than creating bubblegum and candy floss mojito concoctions! A zebra-stripe bar counter, Barbie pink chandeliers and bird-cage seating add to the flamboyance. Loud music, Nigella's cooking show on television, free wifi and a young spunky crowd complete the scene.
FOOD

There's as much emphasis on the `good looking' food here, as on the interiors. The menu traverses through Europe, the Arabian peninsu d la, Asia and even touchhes Morrocan Africa. Today , we y are a bit partial to the Arabian speicialties in our selection -three n cheese and basil sambusak (Rs195), Arabian mix meat charcoal grill (Rs395), chicken salami Romanesque pizza (Rs425), baked aubergine (Rs395), Arabian spiced rock grilled bekti (Rs595) and Moroccan lamb shank (Rs595).

PLUS & MINUS

The three cheese sambusak or samosa triangle is light with flavoursome cheesy melt inside, and a deep-fried, hearty crust outside. The Arabian mixed meat looks inviting, with marinated fish, velvety smooth chicken and ground lamb kofta kebabs taking pride of place on a half-moon platter served on mini khasta parathas. However, the spicing of the kebabs is quite flat on the palate. The pizza is a bit amateurish with off-the-shelf chicken salami and tomatoes slapped on a hand-crafted biscuit-thin base.The Mediterranean-influenced comfort dish of baked eggplants comes with herb rice and leaves us with a satisfying sigh. And yet the best-looking dish of the after noon is the rock-grilled bekti -what with the fancy presentation of pea mash, wilted spinach, tomato onion salsa and fresh greens on the side.

Finally, the lamb shanks arrive as a mammoth portion -fleshy and a wee bit over done. Our moods swing as we dig into the unapologetically rich, homestyle banoffee pie (Rs195).