12 December,2012 11:12 AM IST | | Tanveer Bookwala
Glee Cafe is a strange place. It is neither a coffee shop, nor a bistro. It isn't entirely Moroccan but isn't a continental or Italian place either. It's a little bit of everything. Usually, that's a terrible thing. But luckily for Glee, it lives up to its name and provides the aforementioned emotion.
Designed as a cozy, outdoor cafe, Glee offers an outdoor and indoor seating area. It's nice because you can sort of see the buzz of Yari Road zoom by and still sip on some cool mocktails and dig into some good food. Inside, its sort of a more traditional restaurant with nicely designed tables and sofa-like seating. The thrill however, is to sit outside. Glee is a mix of a variety of cuisines. We order an eclectic mix!
Moroccan Spiced Lamb shanks has meat that melts in the mouth. Pics / Nimesh Dave
Fish Parcels (R295) was a fish fingers-like dish that made for a delectable combination of tangy cheesy marinated fish fingers with Parmesan flavoured spice and herb Tapenade. If you're looking for a nutritious mid-week guilty pleasure, this Mediterranean fish parcel will do the trick. For mains, we opted for the Pasta Alfredo (Rs 285), which was the usual double smoked chicken ham, forest mushrooms and cream pasta. We tried it penne style. The pasta was creamy but typical. Floating at the bottom were large chunks of chicken that did not disappoint. But, this was a tad predictable. We missed the flavours of freshly minced garlic and for authenticity sake, asiago along with the romano and parmesan was not as "authentic" as the Italians would like it, and a far cry from the lamb that was about to follow.
Fish Parcels, a fish fingers-like dish, can serve as a nutritious mid-week guilty pleasure
The Moroccan Spiced Lamb Shanks (Rs 450) was served with full medames (Egyptian variety of beans) and cinnamon rice. The lamb shanks came in large, juicy chinks and were deliciously tangy. The aroma of freshly ground black pepper was evident throughout this offering.
A rub of fragrant spices and herbs including cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and saffron - created a crust of the exotic Moroccan flavours. The meat was evenly browned and melted in the mouth. Spoiler Alert: This is a large helping, so ensure you have a huge appetite. The medames with cinnamon rice was a delicately flavoured dish and went well with lamb. The rice was made with whole grain brown rice, and was baked to crispy perfection with tons of great flavours. It can be eaten separately too.
Alcohol wasn't served yet. Instead, we tried the Fruit Punch (Rs 135) and the Virgin Pinacolada (Rs 125) since these are the only drinks available. Glee served a happy combination of this fruit punch with orange juice concentrate, lemonade, pineapple juice, and ginger ale. The Virgin Pinacolada was a tad disappointing. It wasn't as sweet as it should have been and was less tangy. The pineapple was canned in its own juice rather than the syrup, we thought.
