“Choco peanut milkshake” – Not available
“Butter milkshake” – Not there
“Italian Cream Soda” — No madam
“Coco Colada” – No madam
Maybe we will go for the appetisers straight away. How about Pollo en salsa, chicken satay, burritos…? “We don’t have,” says the waiter.
At Acalendra on R.K. Salai, the menu is exhaustive — Continental, Oriental, Mexican, North and South Indian...but unfortunately, much of it is unavailable. Perhaps it’s wiser to let go of the menu and ask the waiter what’s available. “Coffee, tea, butterscotch milkshake...” he replies. We quickly order a cold coffee and butterscotch milkshake and to go with that a fried chicken ravioli and chicken cheese kebab.
The milkshake with crunchy bits of butterscotch is good; the cold coffee on the other hand is a disappointment. It’s probably been listening to Bittersweet Symphony because it’s as sweet as it is bitter. Next, we expect delicate-looking ravioli stuffed with tender meat and cheese to be on our plates but what we get are four oil-soaked squares with a bit of chicken while the cheese plays truant. Still looking for the elusive silver lining, we dig into the kebab which is mildly spicy and soft.
For the main course I order a chicken sausage, olive and cream pasta and Nasi Goreng (Malaysian chicken rice).
The smell from the Nasi Goreng reaches us much before the actual dish does. Apparently, the smell is from the shrimp paste added to the chicken rice (maybe the restaurant should mention that in the menu so people allergic to seafood can avoid it). The pasta is bland. Still hungry and not in a mood to experiment I decide to go with the good-old dosa. Except that dosas aren’t available tonight. So garlic naan and paneer makhni it is. The naan is soft and the paneer makhni not disappointing.
Being brave, I ask for the menu again, this time for the desserts. Chocolate fondue has always been a favourite, carrot cake with ice cream sounds good and panacotta sounds even better. By now I feel like a jilted lover trying her luck yet again with the man of her dreams. And it’s a no again. None of these desserts are available. Thankfully, the beach is nearby and we drive down for some colourful frozen lollies. Maybe Acalendra was just having a bad day but we still managed to find their silver lining — quick service and great party music right from Pitbull and David Guetta to Kesha and Nicki Minaj.
