Qabila – Lipsmacking food!
Location & Intro:
Qabila is located very near to Brand Factory near Forum Kolkata. I was invited here by Argha to try out their food.
The ambiance of the place is decent enough. Though, i prefer the private section more than the main section (can accommodate properly group of say 5-7 people)
What i tried:
The presentation of all the drinks were quite similar. The management needs to look into this.
• Virgin Mojito – The mojito was great. I relished it totally.
• Kiwi Blast – The kiwi blast was good too.
• Oreo Shake – The oreo shake could have been more thick. It was more of ice there.
• Strawberry Delight – It was overly sweet to me.
• Spy Guava drink – The guava chilli drink was good too. It is quite a hit among many cafes in the city of joy.
• Horlicks Shake – We all have been drinking horlicks since our childhood whether we like it or we don’t like it. Here, i gave this shake a try and got back to those nostalgia memories. It was good, mild and not overtly sweet.
• Barbq Chicken Pizza – I did not find the BarBq chicken pizza to be great. However, it was not bad either. The touch of BarBq sauce was quite less and the chicken pieces were tasting just fine.
• Chicken Solaki – The chicken solaki was delicious. It had chinese flavors and was quite succulent. I relished it totally and haven’t had something like this before in Kolkata.
• Grilled Polinda (Grilled chicken with herbed corn rice) – The chicken steak sauce was quite good. However, the chicken was quite a bit stiff which i already have informed to the management about it. It might be the supplier or the marination and cooking. The rice tasted fine to me.
• Grilled Chicken with Spaghetti – The chicken was again having the stiffness. However, the spaghetti was perfect.
• Grilled Chicken with Mashed Potatoes- This was presented well and tasted good too. The chicken was better this time. The gravy was delicious.
• Fish Crumber – The fish had a little smell in it. However, as informed by the management, it was Basa but Basa never has a strong smell to it. However, the sauce accompanied with it was nice.
• White Sauce Pasta – The pasta was great and lip smacking delicious! A little more sauce would have been my preference.
We even took the Sheesha’s. The sheesha’s were just fine but me being a sheesha lover, i felt that the cafe can do much much better with the Sheesha. Though, it was quite a good gesture of making watermelon punch base Sheesha by the Management for all of us for which i shall remain thankful.
Special thanks: Arghya Banerjee for inviting me over and providing the hospitality.
Price for two: 500-1200 approximate (Prices are subject to change due to macroeconomic factors such as inflation, etc.)
Expert Suggestions:
• With respect to the experience i had, i felt that the service definitely needs some improvement. The day we went, some of their staffs were not available. However, the staffs had been repeatedly told to pick up and clear our tables twice or thrice but they came very late. I felt that if the guests/foodies/bloggers/patrons/customers are invited to a particular restaurant, providing good hospitality definitely does create a better impression of the Management.
Pros:
• Good seating capacity.
• Not those shady kind of sheesha lounges.
• Has a private seating area.
• Ambiance is decent.
• Serves both Continental and Chinese Food.
• Presentation of the dishes are quite simple and nice.
Conclusion:
Overall, the experience here was good but could have been better if the service was much more prompt. Nonetheless, the food was good here barring some exceptional issues. I would rate it 3.8/5.
Disclaimer:
I was invited by the management of Qabila Cafe and the views expressed herein are solely my own.
