QRO Gourmeteriia, previously known as the Dark House Kafe is located towards the end of the busy lane of restaurants at Satya Niketan. If you were to pass by the café, you’d be sure to recognise it by its fancy, yet elegant glass doors. As we entered the café on a hot May afternoon, we were greeted by a welcoming staff and an even more welcoming and simple interior (completely different from the previous Dark House Kafe, which was based on a haunted/thriller theme).
The QRO café is a small, homely place with a variety of seating available and one of my favourite parts of sitting at the café was observing the enthusiastic people who work there – all clad in orange polos, with catchy food quotes on them (Nice to meat you!) We had a gala time at the café and here’s a glimpse of what our meal looked like:
1. The Drinks:
We ordered two drinks, one milk based (Coffee Oreo Shake) and the other a water based mocktail (QRO Sunshine). The Coffee Oreo Shake was creamy, thick, loaded with coffee and oreos. Whereas QRO Sunshine was one of the speciality drinks of the café, a mix of cranberry and orange juice, coupled with a hint of lemonade, it was extremely refreshing and provided the much-needed respite from the heat.
2. The Mains:
We ordered two mains, Stuffed Grilled Chicken and Butter Chicken Pasta.
The Stuffed Grilled Chicken Breast, was again, a QRO Special on the menu. The charcoal grilled chicken breast, gave out an amazing smoky taste as expected! While the grilled veggies (broccoli, corn, carrot and beans) added to the smoky effect, the chicken keema filling just melted in our mouth. The dish was served with a finger-licking barbeque sauce which was irresistibly good.
The second dish, Butter Chicken Pasta was great too. The pasta was cooked to perfection and the chicken, even though slightly chewy, tasted good. However, the winner of this dish was the perfect butter chicken gravy (or sauce, whatever you wish to call it!). It was the right mix of spicy, salty and buttery but did not have the usual ‘sweetness’ of the butter chicken gravy – and that makes it a definite winner. This pasta is a must-try whenever you visit the café next.
3. The Dessert:
Despite being full after eating the truckload of chicken, we couldn’t resist the Paan Kulfi on the dessert menu. Even though the café could add more variety to its dessert menu, the Paan Kulfi is a definite hit with its right balance of flavours of the paan and the kulfi. In this scorching heat, there couldn’t be a better end to our lunch.
While there is only so much that we could try at the café, the menu at QRO has some interesting dishes to look out for – QRO Special Maggie, Cheesy Nacho Mexicana, Grilled Fish in Lemon Butter Sauce, Chilly Spicy Momos. We recommend you try out QRO Gourmeteriia, first thing after the college reopens – after all, what better way to start your new semester than by trying out a new café?