Ok...I like Italian food. I love Italian food. It was my birthday on the 4th and I was working late. Couldn't take the family out for dinner. Told them I'll make it up by going out to a nice place over the weekend. We battled and brawled over it the whole week. Expensive, classy, rare, hole-in-the-walls, near, far, been-there-once, EVERYTHING!! Finally we decided on "NEW". We were passing through Koramangala and we saw the words "Sage & Thyme Ristorante and Cafe'" in the Raheja Arcade, next to the Citibank ATMs. The bells were ringing Italian!! It was decided. Lugged along a dear friend Bhavya for the treat. We got there through rain, bad roads, traffic jams and a flat tyre. We were greeted at the door by an eager Sayed. "We have just opened recently" he said as he seated us. "We are still a little shaky here, so please bear with us." Sayed, Sayed, Sayed.... tsk! tsk! tsk! Not comforting first words when hungry people enter a restaurant. We sat down anyway. Pondered through the menu. Surprisingly it was also Multi Cuisine. We wanted Fish fingers for starters along with some french fries for Anoushka. After pondering in the kitchen for a while we were told Fish fingers wasn't available. We settled for Chicken Lollipops and French Fries.
Chicken Lollipops
Bread Sticks and complimentary cherries for Anoushka (& me!!)
French Fries
The French fries came with some ketchup and some sour cream. NOW the fun started. The sour cream wasn't sour cream. It was watery cream and for some weird reason had lime squeezed in it. See the image above. The fries were brought in a basket without a tissue base. Lesson learnt: If you try putting salt on your fries in this kind of a set up it will end up on the table also. For the main course, I wanted to have Fish and chips, which was NOT AVAILABLE along with the announcement that NO fish item was available (apparently, they swam a lot and are hard to chase!). So I settled for the S&T Club sandwich.
S&T Club Sandwich
Ruth opted for her spaghetti but instead of tomato sauce this time opted for white sauce. The choice- spicy chicken and mushroom spaghetti with chilli achar. Was decent. Should be eaten hot though, since it the sauce starts to turn into concrete as it cools down. Bhavya went for the Chicken with garlic and herbs. Tasted nice. Quantity for the price- not great.
Spicy Chicken and Mushroom Spaghetti with Chilli Achar
Chicken with garlic and hearbs
To drink I ordered Lemon Ice Tea, which they suggest, should be had in a tall glass. Except HERE they serve you in a wine glass (that was tricky??!!). It wasn't refreshing. The sugar crystals were still at the bottom. ( @ Sayed- I'll let you in on a secret. The rest of the world has started using sugar Syrup!). Later I thought I'll try the fruit punch. Again it was NOT AVAILABLE. Apparently, they didn't have ALL the fruits needed to make the punch. They suggested orange juice. A little later I see Sayed standing outside looking impatient. His anxiety is put to rest after one of the kitchen crew members walks in with a bag of oranges. The juice served promptly afterwards.
The "prompt" Orange
The whole thing worked out to roughly Rs.350/- a head. The Restrooms are on the ground floor and need some maintenance but are passable. Parking inside the arcade is subject to availability.
NOTE TO THE MANAGEMENT.
Now, here is my suggestion. Freeze on your vendors before you open your restaurant. Everyone who opens restaurants goes through hell just to make coffee. But get your logistics in place before you open it. Another observation was that one of your waiters was sweating profusely when he brought the food to the table. NOT A GOOD WAY TO SERVE FOOD!!!!!! Shouldn't have sent him out. Keep the hand wash area and the toilets clean and if possible dry. Make room for a broom closet because thats where its supposed to be kept, NOT WHERE THE CUSTOMER GOES TO WASH HIS HAND!! These are basic things which every restaurant follows, specially for the prices you charge and the standard you claim you want to maintain. Oh! Last but not the least of all- RUN YOUR MENU THROUGH A SPELL CHECK!!
Address: Raheja Arcade, Shop No 007, Koramangala, Bangalore - 95
Phone: 41460501
Cuisine: Indian, Continental, Thai
Wallet factor: Rs 350- Rs 500 for two
Cards Accepted: Not at the time of writing this review
Parking: Exclusive but subject to availability
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