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Weekend grub: Hit The Cube in Lahore to mix it up

Weekend grub: Hit The Cube in Lahore to mix it up

The best thing about their European menu is that it's not a replica of every other restaurant menu
16 Oct, 2015

Spoilt for choice while deciding where to get together with your friends this weekend? Want to relish some quality family time over scrumptious food, but don’t know where to go? We might be of some help here:

Where to go: The Cube

The Cube at Nishat Hotel isn’t really a new restaurant. But its new menu makes it worth a visit this weekend.

The restaurant's new chef, Waqas Malik — a silver and bronze medal winner in modern cuisine at the International Istanbul Gastronomy Festival 2015 — is behind their all-new European menu, which has something to suit everyone's tastes, spicy or mild, vegetarian, meat or seafood.

Malik (who claims he’s the youngest chef in town) serves organic chicken and eggs, the best quality beef, seafood and vegetables, even if that means procuring it at a higher rate. He's introduced the use of Swiss cheese at The Cube, something he says is new to Lahore.

The Cube in the daytime – Publicity photo
The Cube in the daytime – Publicity photo

When to go

The Cube is a particularly nice spot at lunch. Their cosy venue enjoys a lot of sunlight from one facade, and the cube-shaped installation doubles as a chandelier, so you're never short of light.

It's never brimming with people, so finding a table isn't difficult. People will also appreciate that tables are not placed very close to each other, so they can be sure to enjoy their privacy.

What to order

The best thing about The Cube's new menu is that it’s limited, and not a replica of every other restaurant. This could very well be The Cube’s USP if they maintain their quality.

Recommended soups: The Roasted Tomato is a lovely combination of sweet and sour with a slightly creamy texture and a dash of pepper. The Cauliflower Almond is a unique combination with roasted cauliflower slow simmered in a chicken broth with hints of crunchy almond.

Roasted Tomato and Cauliflower Almond Soup
Roasted Tomato and Cauliflower Almond Soup

Recommended appetisers: The menu boasts a variety of starters, but the Japanese Fried Prawns with cayenne cream had our thumbs up. Only slightly spicy to the taste, the prawns are served on a slab of wood, and are also pleasing to the eye.

For those who don’t fancy seafood, the honey-glazed Spicy Chicken Meatballs is recommended. Cooked in Asian spices, it is served with a side of cucumber salad and Thai dressing, and is a delicious start to a meal.

Japanese Fried Prawns
Japanese Fried Prawns

Recommended main courses: We weren't too keen on trying the burgers and sandwiches, so we tried The Cube's Salmon Eggs Florentine since it's not a commonly served in restaurants. These soft-poached organic eggs, resting on a thin layer of creamed spinach and toasted bread, covered with a dash of Hollandaise and surrounded by smoked salmon, are a unique and thoroughly delightful choice.

Salmon Eggs Florentine
Salmon Eggs Florentine

If you’re a seafood fan, you’ll love the Red Snapper with Spicy Carrot sauce. A grilled fillet of Red Snapper is complemented well by a mildly spicy orange carrot sauce, jasmine rice and grilled sweet pepper.

Another recommendation is the Grilled Tiger Prawns, served on on a bed of spaghetti tossed in herbed garlic butter.

Red Snapper with Spicy Carrot
Red Snapper with Spicy Carrot

The Cube's Mongolian Beef will leave you wanting more. A generous serving of thinly sliced crispy beef fillets is topped with a savoury brown sauce, sliced onions and chilli peppers. But the jasmine rice, accompanying the beef and snapper, could have been softer and not sticky.

Mongolian Beef
Mongolian Beef

The Steak au Roquefort has to be the best steak in town. It's a pan-roasted tenderloin of beef cooked medium like medium should be, and pink in the centre topped with a splatter of delicious Roquefort blue cheese and served with roasted potatoes and cauliflower.

Recommended desserts: Their selection of desserts, though a bit limited, is not to be missed. The hot dark Chocolate Souffle served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramelled bananas in a crispy cup is not just visually appealing but also quite a fulfilling dessert. And so is the baked lemon ricotta cheese cake with berry compote. It's not a heavy dessert, and is quite a balanced blend of flavour.

Hot Chocolate Souffle and Riccota Cheese Cake
Hot Chocolate Souffle and Riccota Cheese Cake

Pro tip: The chef recommends that diners order cuisine they are familiar with, because the spice level can come off as a rude surprise! Order what your palate is used to, if you’re not the adventurous, experimental type.

Damage to the pocket

The Cube is competitively priced. While some starters may appear to be steeply priced with a minimum Rs 675, the burgers and sandwiches balance it out with prices starting around Rs 600.

So if you plan to have a meal complete with a starter, a main and a dessert, then be prepared to shell out over Rs 2,000 per person. But, if you’re going for a main entrée and a drink, then you’ll pay around Rs 1,500, depending on the mains you choose.

Comments

Rao Oct 16, 2015 01:50pm
Recently i was invited by one friend ( He is a Pakistani but a Blind Anglophile to say the least ). He told me that for the brunch we have pommes frites, Swabian German lentils , tortilla and French rice. It turned out that Pommes frites were fried chips, tortialla was a roti, Swabian german lentils was simply a daal and french rice was a desi chicken rice. But I have no idea why Our people and our chefs could not develop local dishes with local names. It is not a rocket science. Kindly take pride in your local cuisine. Name it locally and take pride in it. The basic ingredients are always the same. But locals should develop a local cuisine and then market that as a premium. Kindly all chefs should sit together and then develop the food with local names. Believe me in the end the minor difference in ingredients with unique presentation along with the Etiquette is all that matters.
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hassan Oct 16, 2015 01:51pm
Would love to go there on my next visit to Lahore!
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Ahmad Oct 16, 2015 01:57pm
Simply overrated. Very high price for not so impressive ambiance, quality or services. My 2 experiences were like not good value for money.
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Muhammad Waqas Oct 16, 2015 02:39pm
On my priority list when we will come to Pakistan! IA
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Anon Oct 16, 2015 05:04pm
I've been there once... the service was so bad I decided never to go again. The people there seemed surprised/irritated that someone had actually come there!
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sky Oct 16, 2015 07:55pm
look at our priorities someone rightly said " when u see crowd in learning places (university etc) of a nation then the nation is developed and if u see restaurants crowded then its the other way"
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kallan Oct 16, 2015 08:27pm
Great food
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Naxalite Oct 16, 2015 09:23pm
But 90% of the Karachites can't afford it.
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Parveen Oct 16, 2015 10:40pm
Looks very attractive and appetizing.This does look like high end restaurant.The price is not high and worth every penny for the quality food they are serving.I wonder if they get enough business to make profit.I think there are many rich people in Lahore to keep this restaurant going.Thanks for sharing.
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Khanra Oct 17, 2015 01:02am
Those dishes look like they'd fit in at any high end restaurant here in San Francisco!
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Sleepless In Sahiwal Oct 17, 2015 04:26am
Servings look pretty small!
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Shifa Oct 17, 2015 05:14am
went there on my last trip. The food was really good. The service not so good for that kind of price.
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khan inchandler Oct 17, 2015 09:45pm
What happened to a good Desi food. The pictures tell me that it is a rip off for the price, look at the quantity. Like Rao say, local food with local names will go a long way with me then these stupid sounding name. Bubba, give me an Indian or Pakistani Daal, Nehari or Biryaani at any time rather then this idiotic Swabian German lentil.
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Tariq, Lahore Oct 17, 2015 11:50pm
Fancy names and presentation which leads to x100 price hike! There's nothing to beat the desi food out there. All is needed is for desi vendors to take a lesson in presentation of food and invest in their premises presentation!
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hassan Oct 18, 2015 11:04pm
@khan in chandler There is no better desi food than home cooked food- unless you are looking for barbecue. European cuisine is one of the best in the world and if someone is trying to introduce authentic european cuisine, I would definitely support it.
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