Sunday 12 February 2017

Carluccio’s at the Mall of Qatar

Hello,

I hope you are doing well! Well, I certainly am a beauty addict of the highest order and perhaps a little less known fact is, me being a foodie! Coming from a family where food is much celebrated, my mum, in fact is a very successful entrepreneur in the food sector and she is renowned for her famous appam’s( a traditional Keralan Bread) and her Mutton Curry is nothing short of Magic!

So being a foodie is almost a genetic part of my being! I absolutely love the buzz of trying out new cuisine and my kitchen most certainly is the epicenter of culinary-experimentation!

Over the last few months, we’ve shared some of our best loved recipes and we are hoping to cover some of our much-loved hangouts too and kick starting with, Carluccio’s! It’s a regular weekend favorite in our household and we are big fans of the calamari fritters!

I was recently invited to Launch and Media Night of the restaurant at the newly opened Mall of Qatar and I couldn’t have been more excited and eager to try out the new place in town!

Location wise, they certainly have nailed it. Dining out with kids is literally a battle fought, With the restaurant located in the Middle of the Oasis Center, overlooking the entertainment area, distraction for the kids is not a problem(Wuhoo!!!)!

With refreshing Berry Mojito’s and enticing canape selection, the night was an absolute joy and even the tiniest detailing was taken care of! The Sicilian Arancini, was certainly the high light of the night, the crispy rice balls with pesto and topped with some divine Mozzarella and a tangy tomato, pepper sauce was just divinely to tuck into! I also loved the skewers with cherry tomatoes, Sun dried tomatoes and Mozzarella.

Once we had settled they came with a set 3 course menu, we could select an appetizer and a main course followed by a decadent mini trio dessert.

We got to choose from Prawn Marinara, Chicken Caesar Salad and Tomato and Pesto Bread from the appetizer range and I went for the tomato and pesto bread, which is a pizza bread with tomato and pesto sauce and Oh MY GOODNESS it was so amazing, that a refill seemed only fair.

Now coming to the main course we ordered one of each(there was 5 of us in our table) from a selection of , Seafood Skewer, Crispy Gnocchi and chicken Saltimbocca. I ordered the Crispi Gnocchi which is salted in pesto sauce with cherry tomato and mozzarella cheese as this was something I hadn’t tried from their menu also I have a love affair with pesto sauce and when the waiter explained the ingredients I had to go it, it was super light and very refreshing and I promise, you wouldn’t be disappointed. The Chicken Saltimbocca was very scrumptious but slightly high on the salty scale.

For desserts it was a decadent trio of minis with Salted Caramel Panna Cotta, Chocolate Brownie Sundae and Passionfruit Meringue. The deserts were to die for but the one that won my heart was The Salted caramel Pana Cotta, it was ‘melt in your mouth’ gorgeous goodness.

The service was impeccable, with military precision and touch of homely, they were all so warm and friendly, taking feedback on food and making sure everything was perfect!

So here is my Verdict:

Food: 4/5(only because the Saltimbocca was salty)

Service: 5/5 ( Amazing Friendly Staff!!)

Location :5/5

Overall Experience :4.5/5

Will I Visit/Recommend : A Big Fat YES!!!

If you are heading to the Mall of Qatar anytime soon, do head to Carluccio’s for some lovely Italian food- you will most certainly have a good time!

Until next time.

Merin