A bright and sunny day, a glass of mulled wine with a delicious Italian brunch cooked up by the celebrity chef, Ritu Dalmiya herself. What else can a true foodie ask for to begin the Christmas festivities? I would consider myself extremely lucky to have been invited over to Café Diva in Sangam Courtyard to try out the Christmas menu curated for the festive season.
Located on level 1 of the Sangam Courtyard, the restaurant cum café is one of the latest additions under chef Ritu Dalmiya. The 30 pax restaurant has been given a warm and an inviting setting with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree right at the entrance while the friendly smiles of the staff that welcomes you. We are guided to a nicely laid table and the cutlery in the Santa’s socks instantly brought a smile on our face.
The brunch started off with a great mulled wine. Mulled wine is prepared by combining red wine with orange juice along with cinnamon, cloves and then simmered over low heat which is perfect for this weather. We were served a few appetizers to start with, the first one was ZEPPOLINE WITH ROCKET, a speciality from the Naples, tiny balls of left over pizza dough stuffed with mozzarella cheese.
Next in line was THE FRIED GREEN TOMATOES coated in batter, fried and served with pesto and cheese. The imminent explosion of the citrusy sweetness of the tomatoes with the creaminess of the cheese is a beautiful combination. Next up was the healthy MILLET SALAD, which was a blend of millet, pine nuts and pepper with a hint of mint and lime juice. The CARROT AND GREEN APPLE SALAD was superbly delicious. Fresh juliennes of carrots, beetroot and apple nicely wrapped together with poppy seed dressing.
As they say, no Christmas meal is complete without turkey. We had the TURKEY THIN CRUST PIZZA, wood fired and meaty with perfect amounts of cheese and tomato sauce. The VEG PIZZA was topped with loads of mozzarella, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes and fresh pesto.
For the mains we had FISH WITH PRAWN MOILEY AND QUINOA. The mildly spiced sauce complimented the sea food so well that we could not stop until it was over. PAPAYA CURRY WITH BIKANERI ROTI was the best vegetarian dish I had in a very long time. The roti was made of mashed green peas and went along great with the tangy raw papayas in brown gravy.
CHRISTMAS PUDDING WITH CUSTARD was a great ending to the sumptuous brunch. The pudding was not that sweet yet was balanced accompanied with warm creamy custard. So set aside a day in this festive season, visit Café Diva, Sangam Courtyard and be assured to get dazzled by some great tasting lunch and awesome hospitality.
