Daily Times

The food at Tuscany Courtyard is tricky. Ever since the restaurant opened in Lahore not many years back, the variation in taste keeps fluctuating. It is like an on off button. Delicious for half a year, not so much the other half of it.

I’m talking mind-numbingly, food coma – taste of heaven delicious. The presentation and new additions are stunningly done. So much so, that we want to go inside the kitchen and give the chef a star on his cheek. This happened when I tasted their Tamarind Fish for the first time about a year and a half back. And I happily dished out Rs 1,200 from my wallet for the divine meal I had devoured. This happened again when I tried their Sunday brunch. The omelettes, hash browns, pancakes and tempuras made me beam with joy. Me and my otherwise talkative sibling spoke less and ate more, thought less and tasted more, paid less and felt more. Such was the brilliance last year of Tuscany Courtyard’s abrupt foray into reinventing itself, of rediscovering its primary ethos of giving its clientele a taste of Central Italy.

The Strawberry Mille Feuille was another work of art in terms of presentation, just when I thought eating from inside the mouth of a sole couldn’t be more exciting. It came with meticulously tiered puffs with neatly diced strawberries and lots of cream with powdered sugar.

The dessert was better than Gaia’s and batted eyes at the idea of sipping hot tea with it.

And then two months back, the year-long spell comes undone. The taste now transports me back to the time it first launched, the hype was immense but my enthusiasm had died when I came out labelling the food “mediocre”.

I sink my teeth into Chicken Cordon Bleu (Rs 1,145), the cheese melting and dissolving in my mouth almost suddenly, the chicken taking its time but the spices, buttery taste and wetness of the what’s dairy striving and fighting its way back into last year’s spell of “excellence” and not “mediocre”.

Speaking of excellence, the Thai Fiery Soup (Rs 575) is worth your money. It’s rich in taste owing to the plethora of seafood and beef ingredients it adds to its broth that is super spicy.

Tuscany Courtyard’s food is tricky. It has its spells of excellence and mediocrity, but I feel it’s on its way to maintain the former as its clientele is immense and rapid feedback is ginormous. Until then, bon appétit!

However, my romance with its spell of excellence draws to a close once the Mango Mille Feuille arrives. The presentation is exactly like its beautiful strawberry stepsister’s but the taste falters. The cream is surprisingly warm for a dessert, the puff fails to hold on to the moistness of the mangoes and the structure simply crumbles once you dig your spoon or fork inside.

But my Gardener’s Salad (Rs 625) defies mediocrity with its freshest of the fresh snow peas, celery stalks, carrots, green onions and iceberg lettuce with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese. This beauty of a green delight is made moister with sunflower oil, spicy mustard and cider vinegar. Definitely my take home order, hello!

I like my Buffalo wings that make me get my hands dirty. That means they should be extremely tender, dripping in tangy Buffalo sauce and melt in my mouth as soon as it reaches my tongue with the sauce’s flavour and taste not leaving my mouth and fingers for minutes at end. Tuscany Courtyard’s wings are better than the graphic details I just provided. And you want to know why? They come with a garlic mayonnaise dip! Please tell me why I shouldn’t be going back tomorrow to have the exact same thing again.

Tuscany Courtyard’s food is tricky. It has its spells of excellence and mediocrity, but I feel it’s on its way to maintain the former as its clientele is immense and rapid feedback is ginormous. Until then, bon appétit!