cafe high 5

Café High 5 is a newly launched Café by Mr. Prashant Karan. High 5 is not just a Café; it’s a meeting place, a point where art meets the enthusiast; it’s a forum to exchange ideas from around the world.
When one steps in the parameters of Hauz Khas Village, one basic fact is realized at that very moment that, this place is all about losing sanity and party as hard as possible because, it is the hub of the spark, name the type of place one likes and this area is full of that and in midst of all of this, comes an addition to the sparkle of this glitz under the exuberant tag of `High 5, Cafe & Bar`, located right next to the parking spot of HKV, this place is at 1st floor, next to Choco Vault, this venue has recently re-launched itself as they have done some amendments in their infrastructure and interiors of this place. It is pertinent to mention, the change has some effect with amazing interior designs and excellent outlook rendered as a final result. As what was told to me, that the venue consists of or is made of 5 elements is what they have tried to convey in their interiors, wood, earth, air, fire, water. Also that the re-launch was based on the concept of making the patrons aware of the expansion of this very venue, as it was really scintillating to look for the wooden texture and concomitantly the rugged earthy look with similar seating arrangements also not to forget the red aura/light depicting fire and then the air factor which steps in while one steps out in the balcony area which gives quite an impressive view of the outside with fresh air. Though I did find where on one hand the walls were done up with some crazy funky and quirky art, the overall décor is a bit dingy.

Next it was time to jump to the quintessential criteria, the food and beverage tasting session. The menu though tried to cover an array of cuisines, but failed to impress with any new/innovative dish. So after browsing through it, we decided to play it safe and ordered the following:

New Delhi Chilly Chicken: morsels of chicken presented with the desi touch we Delhiites love in a chilly marinate with loads of stir fried veggies. The chicken was a bit dry and fibrous and the veggies seemed to dominate the platter.

Veg Spring Roll: thin crispy rolls filled with veggies were presented to us. The spring rolls were not oily, which is a big relief, and the seasoning was apt too. As compared to other places, their spring rolls were more like cigars which I found was different and it prevented the veggies from spilling out.

Achari Paneer Tikka: the chunks were huge in size, the shashlik was okay, though there was taste in it, but the salt was a bit much and it lacked the achari taste, it was more like a normal paneer tikka.

Fish and Chips in beer batter: few cutlets of fish, crumb coated and deep fried served with a side of fries. The fish cutlets were the frozen ones and hence lacked taste, though they were fried properly and weren’t oily. The fries were okay, the tartar sauce was missing and instead some jelly like dip was presented.

Veg cheese nachos: a pan full of nachos doused with cheese was brought to the table, though initial few bites were okay but thereafter the first layer, there was no seasoning, the nachos were soggy and it wasn’t a pleasant dish to have.

Veg basil pesto bruschetta: the bruschetta was a bit soggy, though the cheese was apt and it lacked the favour of basil pesto so it was more like a veggie bruschetta, presentation too was bad.

Veg penne alfredo: the pasta was cooked al dente, the sauce was creamy, but had a slight sweetness to it that you get from readymade sauces, nothing to spectacular.

Mexican green wave pizza: again a veg dish presented from their end without knowing our preference. The pizza though simple but was better than rest items, the base was thin and crispy, the cheese topping just apt and the jalapeno and olives and to the taste, bell peppers added the crunch.

Though it was a bloggers table, a media lunch, but the service was painstakingly slow. It almost took them good 30 minutes to get any order we placed, initially we ordered a dish we wanted to taste, but thereafter they stated getting dishes on their own without considering our preference. The food was average, the lighting too dim to take good pics or relish the dish. The presentation was pathetic, waiters were clueless and the music too loud to have a conversation. I think they should really focus on their food, now that they have altered their ambiance.