Known for their off the shelf cold cuts and gourmet fresh meat variety, Mediumrare Deli & Fine Foods is a cosy 24-seater down St Mary’s Road. The tables skirting the outside of the place, gives it an endearing curbside bistro vibe. The diner has Chef Fabian Ravi as their culinary, food expert and corporate chef and is offering a new menu that is predictably big on authentic recipes. Boasting an exciting all-day breakfast and freshly cooked meats for your lunch or dinner, the outlet also has some select products sourced from across the world.
We catch up with the chef who in the past has enthralled our palate with delectable Italian cuisine at the fine dining restaurant in Taj Coromandel way back in the ’90s to more recently, some irresistible sushi at Black Orchid. Here at Mediumrare, Chef Fabian brings us traditional continental fare that has been perfectly timed and launched during this Christmas month. Perfectly timed? Because, he is dishing out a variety of choicest roasts! Your pursuit for that great centerpiece at your festive table this D e c e m b e r e n d s here.”Mediumrare is designed along the concept of an English Deli. Hence, it made sense to create a menu that celebrates traditional and authentic continental cuisine,” says the chef, who assures us that the turkey and duck roast will be available throughout the year.
We sip on some fresh orange juice as we wait for our dinner to arrive and are pleasantly surprised that the bustling road is barely intrusive. The Caesar salad comes with generous cheese shavings and the toastiest toastie alongside and in retrospect we should have exercised restraint while savouring this one. That realisation happened when the large, leggy bird arrived with much pomp and a whole bunch of veggies and baby potatoes on the side. As we carved the turkey and marvelled at the juicy meat — it was the traditional cranberry sauce that had us going for seconds.
A lesson in roasts and textures, the next dish was a well-done whole duck and a bite of the meat found us relishing a robust and flavoursome offering that is quite different from the earlier dish that was subtle in comparison. Add a pour of the orange sauce and the dish lights up with complex notes. For dessert we were served the famous Christmas Pudding and the delightful flambé had us Boomerang-ing the blue flame, though once we had a spoonful of the alcohol-doused dish we stayed away from our phones and enjoyed the moment.
For vegetarians who like non-vegetarian flavours and textures — there is Beyond Meat on the menu too.
Roast Turkey INR 2,200 ++ Roast Duck INR 1,680 ++ Meal for two: INR 900.
Bon appétit
Available till the end of the month, this hamper from Mediumrare offers the traditional stollen, plum cake, marzipan and mince pies along with other treats like marinated prunes, marinated apricots, sugared hazelnuts, pumpkin seed sourdough, almond rocks, sun dried tomatoes and spaghetti.
At INR 1,999.