Breakfast or Brunch | Review.
Looking for a fuss-free breakfast or brunch to enjoy with your besties this weekend? Four top restaurants/cafes in Lahore were put to the test.
By Teepu Qureshi
1) Espresso
Your feel good breakfast place! Espresso is a haven for breakfast lovers, especially since their breakfast menu is available all day, even if you’re in the mood for it at 11:30PM on a Wednesday night. On our visit we had the cheese, pepperoni and onion omelet with baked beans, hash browns, chicken frankfurters along with an order of pancakes, french toast and of course a cappuccino. I have to admit, they serve a mean omelet and consistency is king. The pancakes and french toast on the other hand, lack a little luster. Honestly, it’s a nice place to pop in for breakfast, but it would be nice if they could spruce things up a little.
VERDICT: I do enjoy a good Omelet. Overall 3.5 out of 5.
2) Cosa Nostra
More brunch than breakfast… the guys at Cosa Nostra understand food, besides the fact that it is the go-to Italian joint in town. They don’t fail to impress when it comes to serving up a hearty breakfast. From live stations, to self service buffets featuring freshly baked breads, poached eggs, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit, roast beef, roast chicken, coffee, iced tea…. you name it, they’ve got it. It is the best place to be on a Sunday morning/afternoon.
VERICT: LOVE! 5 out of 5
3) English Tea House
We made our way to the relatively new ETH in defence to check out the breakfast menu on a day when we were particularly famished. The staff was nice and courteous as we were promptly seated. We proceeded to order the Blueberry Pancakes, Chocolate Banana Waffle and Eggs Benedict with Seasonal Fruit. The pancakes were quite delicious! The rest, well, nothing to write home about. A nuance worth mentioning, was that the ‘fresh fruit’ that accompanied the waffles and the eggs benedict were more frozen than fresh.
VERDICT: Willing to go again, especially for the pancakes. But the rest of the order was pale in comparison. 3 out of 5. Sorry.
4) La Atrium
Sunday brunch. We were a little cautious headed in, given the flurry of mixed reviews on social media, we still decided to give them a shot. In hindsight, we weren’t cautious enough. l think we can all agree that Sunday brunch is sacred and the likes of Teriyaki, Thai Chilli Fish and Chow Mein has no place on a brunch menu. Albeit, we naturally bypassed those oh so generous offerings, in search of something a little more breakfast like. We kept the order simple, Cheese Omelet, Dum Aaloo, Puri, Suji Halwa, and some French Toast. Without sounding terribly harsh, the food was bland, tasteless in fact, and I’m still quite perplexed by how they could possibly burn a simple cheese omelet and think it was okay to serve it to us.
VERDICT: Perhaps they were having a bad day in the kitchen, but I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon. 2 out of 5 at best.
