When Sudhakar and I were still courting, Cafe Y used to be favourite meeting point. For one, it served the best continental food and two the atmosphere was cosy and comfy. All done up in shades of yellow and orange, the restaurant hasn't change much since we last went there 5 years ago. One of the small things that has changed however, is the menu card. They used to have a small leaflet styled menu card which was never-ending, making ordering a wee bit difficult, if you are like me and tend to get overwhelmed with all that's available. The menus are much more readable and friendly now.

We selected a corner table and settled down. Since it was my birthday treat, a friend was with us. Anoushka was most thrilled with the water jugs here which are glass and come with 2 whole limes and a sprig of mint in them. Sudhakar and I settled for ice teas in peach and litchi, while Bhavya settled for a sweet lime juice. For starters we went in for a salad, since we were all still stuffed from our biryani lunch. We decided to create a salad and tossed together onions, tomatoes, peas, ham with an Italian dressing. Tangy which was nice, but a little too much of ground black pepper for my taste, the other liked it that way though.

For the main course, I ordered the Fusion Flair Italian Sizzler - which was a garlic and olive pasta with chicken in tomato and basil sauce, topped with cheese and assorted veggies. The sizzler did not really sizzle and smoke the way it was supposed to and the presentation was not all that neat, but the pasta tasted great, with the olives having a slightly charred flavour to it. The chicken in tomato and basil sauce was really nice, with the chicken being soft and the sauce having just the right tanginess.

Sudhakar went in for the ham roll - which was grilled ham with a stuffing of asparagus and olives, topped with a gratinated cheese sauce. This came along with french fries and assorted veggies. The grilled ham was good, and the rolls were substantial and not the shrivelled up pieces of ham that are normally served. The cheese sauce is what made the entire dish filling. Yumm!!

Bhavya had the 'Chikki' fried steak (not sure why chikki was in quotes on the menu). This was two beef patties that had been flattened and crumb fried and topped with a creamy cheese sauce. This came along with a choice of mashed potatoes or french fries and assorted vegetables. The mashed potatoes, they got just right. Smooth, creammy and flavourful. The beef was tender and literally crumbled with each bite. And good and heavy meal.

For Anoushka we chose from their kiddie menu and she had a Mickey in the basket which was four crumb fried fillets of chicken and french fries. Tasty and it went down well with her. We didn't really have much place for dessert, but nevertheless we went in for a caramel custard, which was the only thing they had besides chocolate mousse. The caramel had a tad too much of cinnamon ground into it and that completely spoilt the taste of an otherwise fantastic meal.

All of this came to approximately Rs 1200. They have two unisex loos which are spotlessly clean, so those of you with children like mine, who think that visiting loos is a sport, you will have a clean one to go to.