It’s a gamble to open a neighbourhood cafe at a 20-minute-drive from established eateries. Or a sign of business acumen. With Pablo - the Food Cartel, businessman Rajiv Dhir and MasterChef season 5 finalist Siddharth Talwar, partners and friends-for-three-decades, would hope it is the latter.
The cafe’s name and mascot are a reference to Pablo Escobar, the Colombian narco-terrorist. This Gurugram-based domesticated Pablo however, slightly resembling Dhir on purpose, is the face of a Tex-Mex and Italian “food cartel”. Dhir had even envisioned having pepper and salt served in lines, reminiscent of lines of cocaine, but (thankfully) decided that might be a tad much. The interior has a statement wall dotted with fat black polka, plush high-back wing chairs on one side and tall chairs with multi-coloured legs on another, making for no distinct vibe.
Despite Talwar’s credentials and official title as “culinary expert” with the cafe, he keeps propping Dhir’s 26-year-old daughter Priyanshi, as the brains behind some of their signature dishes. Priyanshi is a creative in Mumbai, and on paper Pablo’s owner along with sister Sanchita. The flourless chicken pizza (called David) for instance is, I’m told, one of her ideas. Admittedly original, it thankfully sidesteps the cauliflower trend as a base, using a flat, firm patty of chicken instead. This is what carries the dish — the top is an overly familiar olive, capsicum, mushroom, jalapeño held together by more-than-needed cheese.
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Pablo’s in-house pesto, despite Talwar highlighting its no-cheat pedigree — they are sure to use pine nuts and never short-change the customer with walnut, or worse, peanuts — is underwhelming. The basil is too mild and gets lost in other flavours: the pesto bruschetta (Meximo) for instance is overpowered by the mozzarella, and in the tomato and rocket leaf salad (Luciana), I could taste the bocconcini’s chalkiness and the fresh lemon-olive-oil dressing more.
My confusion returns at this juncture because despite all their dishes being christened with a Spanish or Italian name in order to “infuse in them a personality,” the first salad on the menu, called Valeria is heavily Asian in its use of soba noodles and choice of miso or soy dressing. Talwar even declares he will soon try out wasabi in some future dishes.
The salsa and guacamole root me back to their intended cuisine, though with the former, I could tell that the chef favours a good share of Tabasco. It’s also a little disconcerting to find out that the MasterChef finalist holds the US-chain Chipotle’s tomatillo (green) salsa as gold standard. Pablo’s guacamole is on the lemonier side, but this is not really an unwelcome zing for the Indian palate.
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A comforting side-dish is the baked potatoes — it’s got just the right amount of butter and warm-pungent waft of rosemary. Talwar’s cherry jam, served on the breakfast menu, accompanies this well, with its lickable tamarind-sauce texture. Of the mains, Ian, the pumpkin cannelloni is wholesome — the slight natural bitterness from the generous layers of shredded pumpkin is balanced-out by the understated creaminess of their special white walnut sauce.
If your beverage expectations from a Tex-Mex/Italian place are limoncello or horchata, the reality here is a Parle-G milkshake and a blueberry-green-tea smoothie instead. The former is a nostalgic Indian summertime memory — blended Parle G biscuits add a crumbly character to the refreshingly thick vanilla milk. A shout-out to their bakes, all done in-house: the multigrain bread is great and keeps for a few days, and their dryfruit cake is a delicately sweet treat.
Pablo though, is pushing for their coffee-menu as USP. Again attributed to Priyanshi’s passion for java, the list is a selection from eight countries, including one domestic variety from the Gungegiri estate in Karnataka. The strongest, Nicaragua, fails a little as a cappuccino with the foam taking away its flavour and aroma, is passable as an Americano, but really comes into its own when had as an espresso. Slightly fruity and acidic, it’s just the right pep I need to carry me back to Delhi from this far corner of Gurugram.
Pablo - the Food Cartel, GF 55 , Paras Trinity, Sector 63, Gurugram, Haryana. ₹1,200 for two. Open through the week, from 8 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.