Delhi has seen its share of concept cafés and cafés of all flavours. But the newborn Café Ludus located in the heart of MGF Metropolitan Mall in Saket is a bit different. Ludus It is a nice spacious setup divided into a library, a cafeteria and an amphitheatre. Apart from the good food, Café Ludus has an amicable staff as well. Justin Raj, one of the employees, made me comfortable and took me through the extensive menu, which features delicacies from across the globe.
As I always prefer to start my dinner with a hot soup, I ordered Firenze which I was later told is amongst the fast moving soups of the café. Thick and creamy in texture, it also had a nice flavour of fennel. Garlic bread served alongside was crisp and fresh. I tried Waldorf, a refreshing and healthy salad made with red apples and honey mayo. For starters, the chef made my job easy by making a platter of his selected delicacies. Zattar Prawn with Chilly Mayo was spicy and tender. The Lamb Kibbeh, a delicacy from West Asia, was nice too: perfectly crisp outside and tender inside with nicely flavoured minced meat stuffing. Sadly, the pita bread was oily and soggy. But the hummus was fresh with olive oil oozing out of it. But the winner was the Ludus Fiery Wing. Rest assured, they have not named it fiery on a whim. The crumbed fried fish was overcooked but retained its flavours.
Café Ludus also serves some exotic pizzas, pastas, wraps and burgers. House burgers are named after gladiators like Crixus, Maximus and Spartacus. I chose Spartacus, stuffed with juicy lamb patty and veggies. Before trying the desserts I ordered a portion of Cambodian Basa and Chicken Roulade. The fish was tasty, dipped in lemon caper sauce, but the roulade was a letdown. Made out of chicken breast, the roulade was dry and chewy. Sitaki mushroom gave it very nice flavour but its dryness killed the delicacy.
Molten Lava cake was served to me with high expectations but was not on par on that day. The cheese cake, though, was delicious.
Meal for two: Rs.1500
