Food Review - Pantry Café

- June 08, 2015

Brunch at Pantry Café's newest branch at Bay Square, Business bay was a true family affair. My date for the afternoon was a handsome young man called Aditya (Adi) aka my nephew. From the moment we stepped in Adi was a fan of the mordern yet simple wooden interiors that gave a very homely feeling, the food was gastronomic which appealed to all the senses, so let's dive straight in.

I selected a dark chocolate milkshake to get me started (obviously), Adi was more than happy to agree to a margarita pizza (he's my nephew after all). The chocolate milkshake was made of dark chocolate which I loved, but it was not thick enough for me. The problem with a chocolate milkshake being this is that it ends up feeling like chocolate milk instead of a shake.

First course of the day were the appetisers that consisted of a savoury mushroom waffle with mushroom, which was so good in flavour and well cooked that it set the beam pretty high for everything else after it. Other appetisers included an Open Eggplant Sandwich and a Smokey Tomato Scramble. Both of which were nice and crispy from the bread they were served up on. This made it different from the softness of the waffle and balanced out the trio.

I am generally not a fan of sea food why I do make an exception for shrimps and prawns sometimes and this was one of those times. The fried shrimp wrapped in .... Was perfectly crunchy from the outside as I bit into it soft centre. As for the pasta and salmon, I wasn't too fond of it, since I don't really like fish.

One of my true loves, Brie, was served to us baked! The outer crust was a light goldenish brown with light grill marks on top. The rustic French look of the baked Brie made me want to gobble the whole thing in one go, but Adi is a big fan of Brie so I decided to share. As I cut into the circle, the creamy and thick centre slowly oozed out, showcasing the richness of this particular cheese.

The Shasshuouka looked liked the perfect summer dish, if you are Indian it will remind you of tomatar(tomato) ki bhaji. So if you like tomatoes you will like this, just remember it has an egg in the middle which you are suppose to mix into your dish. So it's not suitable for pure vegetarians.

There were two options in the sliders, the veggie quinoa and the beef. Being a non beef eating Hindu, I stuck to the quinoa which was not only healthy but actually tasted better than I expected it to. It was actually so good, I wanted my mom to taste!

I was looking forward to the Mexican chicken, but the flavours of this one did not go down well with my taste buds. The green sauce with it was creamy and the only thing that saved this chicken.

Finally we made it to my favourite course with just enough room to spare. For dessert they had an array of selections to live up to the array of appitisers, entrée and mains. I loved everything on there, especially the tiny lemon meringue tarts.

Another interesting fact that I would like to point out about pantry cafe is their involvement in the community. All the remaining cookies from this brunch were donated to a care home for children with special needs the very next day. I wish more restaurants and cafe all over would take up such initiatives. People in the UAE waste a lot of food, I have seen it myself everything I pass through a foodcourt and even at restaurants. In a world where over a billion people are suffering from hunger and poverty we really need to wake up and take steps. Order only as much as you need, and if you can't finish what you ordered take it home and give it to someone who needs it while it's still fresh.