Restaurant review
Fries - yes, coffee - no!
The benchmark of a café's quality should, perhaps obviously, be its coffee. Good coffee makes a good café. But what if the coffee is not up to the mark? Can it still qualify to be a good café?
The benchmark of a café's quality should, perhaps obviously, be its coffee. Good coffee makes a good café. But what if the coffee is not up to the mark? Can it still qualify to be a good café? Can other items on the menu compensate?
Though a café is generally taken to be synonymous with a "coffee shop", it isn't mandatory that coffee is to be the establishment's pièce de résistance. But a good café should certainly have reasonably good coffee, at least maintain a consistent standard.
That, unfortunately is where Café Colombia falls short of the yardstick. It may seem unfair to start off a café critique on a negative note, but it is also only fair not to set expectations too high for café hoppers. After all, café hopping is one of the few and favourite pastimes of the Dhaka milieu.
Don't get me wrong, Café Colombia has its redeeming qualities. Rather paradoxically it draws in a considerable crew of clientele despite the dubious array of hot beverages.
There is a certain warmth and camaraderie that draws people to Café Colombia. The owner/s are always ready on hand with a friendly smile and query after your well-being. The staff are friendly and helpful. But let's get to the nitty-gritty of the eats.
Our café hopping group comprises friends ranging from fastidious to accommodating, but there is one item on Colombia's menu to which we all give a big thumbs-up in unison, and that is the humble French fry! It's not true that you can't go wrong with French fries. Some joints make them too oily, some too crisp, some too soggy and some too bland. But Café Colombia gets them just right, with an added sprinkling of a lightly spicy condiment. A score of 10 on the yum scale!
Of course, fries are hardly enough to build a solid reputation or a steady flow of customers. But they do have some other tasty tidbits -- grilled mushrooms, sautéed mushrooms, calamari rings, gyoza, wings and dumplings -- well worth a try.
Thumbs up for their breakfasts -- very basic, filling and hearty -- eggs served sunny side up, chorizo sausages, toast and garlic toast, sautéed potatoes, cheese, the works. Nothing fancy, but satisfying nevertheless.
Thumbs down for their pasta and thumbs down for their Tom Yum soup, says our group, fastidious and accommodating alike. On the menu, the soup looked soooo good, crammed full of sea food and looked so full of fragrance and flavour, but what we got was a tepid watery concoction and you would really have to trawl through the bottom to get a prawn or a bit of calamari -- certain not the catch of the day.
The other items ranged from steaks to fish and chips... and more... all very average, some good, some bad, nothing spectacular.
On a parting note, kudos to the Colombia management for their diversity in hiring staff -- some with speech impediments and hearing impediments, which is a huge A+. Others can take a lesson from this ethical stand and make the world a better place.
Would I go back to Café Colombia? Yes, for their fries, if nothing else! But remember, fries are not enough.