Hyderabad is moving towards newer trends , one such trend is Fine dining. You see a good number of fine dine restaurants coming up.

Every restaurant has its own approach towards it. Their main agenda is to satisfy their customers but have many different ways. Essence fusion had conducted a Hyderabad food bloggers meet as a part of their soft launch. The cuisine is again fusion and progressive Indian.

Lets check them out. #hyderabadfoodexplorer #letsexplorehyderabad #hyderabadfoodblogger

Ambience:

As soon as you enter you have a rich vibrant reception. It has got a capacity of 40 pax approximately which is pretty good for a fine dine. You have a really calm atmosphere adding to the ambience so that you can enjoy a peaceful meal. They have a smoking room where you can buy some cigars as well.

The cover is beautifully laid with the cutlery well placed. Some chandeliers and lights to add to the experience.

Food and Beverages:

We were welcomed with some badam milk, thick and creamy. A perfect start to the meal. Apart from this they had a few mocktails as well which were a pass for me.

Appetizers:

Vegetarian:

Gup Chup , or pani puri with 5 different types of water. The taste was good but I’m not sure on how one can taste all of these. A few puris on the side might just work.

Chilly bajji is another take on the local street food. Chilly stuffed with processed cheddar, batter fried and served with some tamarind sauce. Comes with a side of rose sharbat , just in case you feel they are spicy. (Ours were super bland)

Sabudana potato Quenelles again were deep fried. The spicy tomato chutney went really well along with the quenelles.

The beetroot galauti was the star of the Vegetarian appetizers. Presented on a papdi to add some crunch , the beetroot is mixed with potato , nuts and raisins. Served with some mint and tamarind chutney.

Non Vegetarian:

Curried scotch egg was another amazing dish. Perfectly spiced mince wrapped around a hard boiled egg and deep fried . The fusion of Moilee sauce didn’t work for me. The coconut didn’t go well with the egg. The onion pepper relish and the mini cheese bowl worked.

Lal mirch chicken tikka was a good one but the portion size is pretty small. The marination and presentation was pretty good.

Wild Mushroom murgh tangdi was a let down. It was supposed to have mushroom as stuffing but that wasn’t the case. All I could find was dry minced chicken.

Honey and paprika Jhinga has mixes opinions. The taste was decent , well cooked but I felt the zest had a bit of pith as well. My prawns had a bitter taste with the shreds of lemon zest. Beetroot hummus and sicilian lime gel were pretty good.

Main Course:

Vegetarian:

Paneer Lasagne as the name suggests isn’t a pasta dish here. It had mixed combinations which were confusing. The tomato sauce was like a base of a arabiatta or a pizza sauce, being a Hyderabadi as soon as I had the fried onion I had biryani in mind. Would have liked a few more thinner layers of paneer instead of two thick cut ones.

We tried two of their breads on its own. The cheddar cheese Kulcha was bland , processed cheese stuffed bread. The mushroom one on the other had was a good one.

Non Vegetarian:

Apna Chicken Quesadilla was a fun task. Its simple ingredients and make your own. More like make your own tacos. It had julienne of vegetables, sour cream and mint chutney.

Curry leaves Chicken Picatta was a okayish one. But again under seasoned , hardly any curry leaves taste apart from the colour, would have loved a bit more of the mushroom sauce to cut down the dryness of the chicken. Mashed potatoes with mint was sweet , could be of the natural sweetness but it didn’t work.

Desserts:

Fig kulfi with pineapple compote and carrot halwa tasted really good but the temperature to set wasn’t apt. It had ice crystals, every bite of the halwa had the seeds cardamom which wasn’t pleasant.

The gulab jamun cheesecake was a good end. Creamy and mild flavoured cream cheese mix, with some whole gulab jamuns along with the sorbet was a good end.

Pricing , Service and Location:

The pricing is apt if you consider the location but the portion size is way too low. Like 4 pieces of appetizers around 400 is a bit high. Can work on the portion sizes.

Service needs improvement, they had an fully occupied place and that could be the reason but overtime they’ll get it right is what I feel.

Address: Above Aura cafe, Plot 280 A, 1st Floor, Road 10 C, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

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