This new year 212 introduces a new menu which is going to make all those sticking to their resolution of eating healthy, very happy indeed.
212 has come up with a wide variety of delights for patrons who want to eat out, and still eat healthy.
Lots of options for the non vegetarians, such as Tea Smoked Shrimp, Cajun Spiced Chicken Pizza, Grilled Norwegian Salmon to name a few.
There are Vegan friendly dishes like the Quinoa Bowl, Coconut and Corn Bisque, Savoury Baklava with kale, leek, potato and caramelized onion.
Also some gluten free and low/no Carb recipes like Golden Corn & Zucchini Fritters, or the No Carb Spaghetti.
The tasting started of with a small portion of Coconut and Corn Bisque with burnt garlic and cilantro. It was a bowl of sheer comfort on a cool winter evening. Forget a tasting portion, I could literally have a bucketful of that heavenly stuff and eat nothing after !
But I knew Chef Paul Kinny had lots of new dishes planned for the evening, so I had to stop at that tasting portion and give everything else a try.
I’m not really a fan of Quinoa, but this salad bowl had my favourite ingredients like cranberries, mixed greens, pomegranate and roasted almonds. So the Quinoa Bowl wasn’t really disappointing as I earlier thought. Its infact quite a good option for a light lunch /dinner on a summer day.
Tea Smoked Shrimps with frisse, key lime, olive oil and chia seeds, all with a subtle smokey tea aroma was next. Tender, just cooked right prawns, subtle flavours, nothing overpowering the other. Good stuff.
212 does a nice rendition of Caprese, with an almost mousse like mozzarella, oven roasted tomato, basil pesto and balsamic. Clearly some good effort gone into making an otherwise boring and lazy salad.
Cajun Spiced Chicken Pizza with chilli oil drizzle, chipotle spiced pineapple, onion and capers was a perfect medley of sweet, spicy, tangy flavours on a thin crisp crust.
Next up was Savoury Baklava. Yummm! Unlike the sweet sinful sugary dessert we all know, this savoury treat is actually just as healthy as it is pretty. Crisp sheets of phyllo pastry, layered with kale, leek, potato and caramelized onion. I’d happily eat Kale if someone serves it like this !
The few let down dishes for me that evening were –
Golden Corn and Zucchini Fritters. The tangy raspberry sauce with a mild hit of pepper, served with the fritters was nice. But the main dish failed to impress. The fritters were not really big on flavour, and had turned limp and soggy rather quickly.
Beetroot & Ricotta Ravioli with sage brown butter and red onions was another dish that I don’t think I would be ordering again.
However the No Carb Spaghetti with crunchy zucchini, squash, almonds and carrot is a nice, light, yet filling meal for those on a gluten free/low Carb diet.
I wish my favourite grilled Norwegian Salmon had entered the scene much earlier, coz it was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. Think, perfectly cooked flaky salmon with a side of potato and scallion confit and caper vinaigrette.
Dessert had the most sinful, decadent Baked Peach Cheesecake, and Baileys Brownie Cheesecake with Strawberry Peppercorn Compote. (Ok…after eating so much of low carb….no carb…salad and quinoa, you’re allowed to cheat a little ! 😜 Hehehe)
Couldn’t really decide which one was better….so ended up finishing both ! 😂
*Review conducted on Invite*
ladlefuloflove 