18 February,2010 09:37 AM IST | | Daipayan Halder
Cafe Oz in Khan Market is unremarkable at best
I didn't know what to expect from a place that specialises in Australian cuisine. Seriously, the only gourmet that comes from down under is the beer. So I thought if not anything else, the beer will make up for the bad food.
Cafe Oz (a name that hardly inspires fine dining) has two floors, the first (like all places in Khan Market, there is no ground floor) is the dining area and the second is a bar. Both the floors have redbrick walls and I appreciated that the first floor was insulated from the sound from the upper floor.
Instead of regular beer, Oz serves what they call sub zero beer. Basically Foster's and Kingfisher served at sub-zero temperature. The cafe also has an impressive wine list and a large number of them are served by the glass u2013 more than what some places masquerading as wine bars in the city have.
I would have wanted to have more beer but the terrible music and lack of any exciting game on the big screen made me settle down in one corner with another signature drink u2013 the Jackberry. Jack Daniels, mint, lemons, sugar and cranberry juice, a mix that does not require my comment, it takes a lot of effort to go wrong with JD. The kiwi margarita, another specialty I was told was, on the other hand, too sweet and pulpy.
For starters, there was grilled baby fish cake and a trio of dips (Hummus, beetroot and tzatziki) with Turkish bread. I wanted to try the Aussie style beef kebabs but was advised to save the beef for the main course. The fish cakes were mediocre at best and the quantity of the dips served in a dish where the dips are the USP was appallingly little.
The beef better be good I thought, considering the only thing Australian I had till now was beer (bottled in India). I was recommended the Tagliata of grilled beef served with roasted mushrooms and, potato and reduction sauce. It was well cooked but the quantity was too little! I had not realised that a beer tenderloin could be cut into such small (three) pieces.
As I was still hungry, I decided on the Paletilla, braised baby lamb leg, "a Spanish delicacy". It was good, the lamb was well cooked. Unlike the parma wrapped chicken that the wife ate, which too salty even for a second bite.
Considering, I liked a Spanish delicacy in the main course, I opted for the VERY Australian pavlova for dessert with a cup of coffee. Both were good and the very creamy coffee (I prefer it that way) came with five chocolate-robed coffee beans. The hot chocolate souffle was not hot and mostly unremarkable.
Quite like this confused cafe, that needs to mull over things that make it special (sheer variety in both the food and drinks menu, service and resources) and improve upon them.
