Olive Garden, Pakistan - Nothing Italian about it!

This is going to be a quick bitchy post about Olive Garden Restaurant from Islamabad that recently opened a branch in Bahria Town Rawalpindi. I mean I cannot even begin to explain how utterly disappointing and UN-Italian their food was. The only thing that was any good was their decor and the 'on-the-house' Chicken Corn Soup they served us!

To give you a snapshot, in the Appetizers we ordered their mixed platter, which has everything - the mozarella sticks, the wings, nachos etc. Everything literally everything was cold! And, hence made it taste yuck! Then came the real test, both me and my husband unfortunately ordered the same thing - Penne Arrabiata. And, what we got was a DESI-style chicken pasta dipped in a chinese sweet chilli-style sauce. I mean come onnnnnn! I swear I couldn't take more than 2 bites of the thing, and literally forced myself to get it packed just to show everyone at home what pathetic food they are serving. My husband forced himself to finish half of his plate, and when he got the cheque (PKR 2100) and the feedback card, what he wrote must've certainly had their eyes-popping because he was fuming. Anyways we paid and left from there swearing to do the social service of informing everyone never to dine here. So here you go, we've done our bit. 

Street One Cafe, Islamabad - Great food & Awesome Ambiance

It's been a while since I posted anything on my blog. Was actually away for a few months in Pakistan to take care of a family emergency. Got back and had a lot on my plate to accomplish especially since I'm planning another trip (hopefully a shorter one than the last one) to Pakistan in January 2013 (inshaAllah).

Anyways while in Pakistan me and my husband checked out some eateries/restaurants, and one of them worth mentioning here is Kohsar Market, Islamabad's Street One Cafe. It was recommended by my cousin and it certainly lived up to our expectations. Though it's relatively new, having opened back in 2011, it's built quite a name and clientele for itself . I was told (by my cousin) that the crowd consisted mostly of 'foreigners/diplomats' which turned out true, but then again why wouldn't it, their food and presentation is excellent, the decor just perfect and the ambiance certainly hits the right chords. Sharing a few pics of the food we ordered. If you happen to visit them, which I do recommend, in the appetizers, give their light-airy nachos a try. 

The monetary damage was PKR 3200 (SR 124) only excluding dessert 'coz we didn't order any (had a 3 pound cake at home to finish).

We had been searching for the right kind of Italian restaurant in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, and though Street One Cafe doesn't specialise in any one cuisine infact has a varied International menu, the dishes we chose didn't disappoint us at all. I'm sure I'll be paying them a visit again soon :)