A Mexican, Mediterranean Spread @ Market Café & Bar, GK 2 Market, New Delhi

Market Café & Bar is located in Greater Kailash Part 2 market is the chain’s third outlet in New Delhi. This one however has been designed to suit the tastes of the more formal and mature audience visiting this market. Their outlet in Khan Market is a true café while the one in Vasant Kunj is a take away kiosk to ensure you do not miss out on some good Mexican & Mediterranean food.

Assisted by the restaurant’s manager, Manish Sharma I learn a bit about the chain’s lineage and speciality. The 48-seater restaurant has a minimal décor with tables laid at an adequate distance to enjoy your meal & conversations. As per Manish the reason behind Market Café’s success has been its authentic Mediterranean & Mexican food. After the much needed introduction it was time to choose what to taste.

The appetisers are chosen with the objective to be light but certainly not miss out the Mexican / Mediterranean

flavours. I start with the Non-Veg Taco Bar (Rs. 555), Greek Lamb Gyro (Rs. 415) and Pesto Delight Pizza (Rs. 465). The Taco Bar comes with crisp Taco shells and is served with minced lamb, mixed seafood, shredded cheese, Mexican rice, refried beans, salsa, guacamole and sour cream. The guacamole is fresh and smooth, the salsa was balanced and the platter looks full. The mixed seafood is spicy however chunkier pieces would have been more savouring. The Pesto Delight Pizza comes with four brief slices of

Moving on to the main course I choose to taste their Baked Vegetable Moussaka (Rs. 355), Grilled Fish (Rs. 485) and Lamb Tagine (Rs. 485). I started with the Vegetable Mousaka which is an authentic Greek dish with grilled aubergine, zucchini, potato, tomato on a tangy tomato sauce, baked with mozzarella. Have to say that I didn’t enjoy this one at all for the lack of balance in the preparation. The tanginess of tomatoes overpowered the dish and the taste of aubergine &

cheese was negligible. The aubergine could have been fuller and a little more in

quantity to add depth to the dish. The Grilled Fish dish came with grilled fish fillets on a bed of pan roasted veggies, encased in a filo basket with lime-coriander cream sauce. It came with herbed potatoes and bread. The fish used was basa that was fresh and juicy. The sauce if slightly more punchy would have added the much needed zing to the dish. The vegetable mix tasted bland as a result but I will give my thumbs up only for the quality of basa fish used. The Lamb Tagine is a Morroccan stew of lamb, almonds, saffron, tomato and plenty of mint. This is served with steamed rice and khus khus. This curry tasted delicious and the lamb slices were appropriately cut making it easy to serve and eat.

The dessert section has limited options and I chose to taste the Molten Chocolate and Chocolate Gooey, both served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at just the right temperature. I like the Chocolate Gooey more because of its density and just the right balance of being bitter-sweet.

With few changes here ‘n there and an understanding of balance of the original preparations food at Market Café & Bar can definitely be among the better options at the GK 2 market.

 Ipshita Saha

Ratings (Out of 5)

Food: 3.0 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 4.0 | Overall: 3.5

Meal for two: Rs. 1400 | Alcohol: Yes | Credit Card: Yes | Timings: 11.00 AM to Midnight|

Address: M-40, First Floor, Greater Kailash (GK) 2, New Delhi

Tel: +91 880013 4477; 011 4168 2937