Weekend grub: Go-Organic promises to be a trend setter in the healthy food space

A new restaurant in Islamabad caters not just to the capital's foodies but is a haven for the health-conscious too.

At Go-Organic, located in F-10, you are promised to be served food made from organic ingredients, a gym on the second floor allows you to burn your stock pile of calories and an organic supermarket on the top lets you keep your intake low.

“Nothing is going to be ordinary. The gym will be offering yoga, Zumba and other dance classes. The supermarket will have everything labeled 'organic and imported' [from Dubai Waitrose] and the food is going to be one of its kind,” claims Humza, the young business and event management graduate from University of Glasgow.

Go-Organic owners earlier set up a restaurant called Rock Bistro at the same venue, but have now reinvented it with the concept of introducing Isloo-ites to organic food.

Despite the restaurant's rustic oakwood interior, Go-Organic is keen to set trends. Customers place their orders on an iPad attached to their table, sending it directly to the kitchen.

Just to be on the safe side though, a waiter confirms the order. The feedback, as well as payment options, will also be available through the same technology later, shares Humza.

The eatery can fit 30 guests at one time; however, it plans to expand to include an organic barbeque on the patio, all good to go for 50 plus meat lovers opting for a high protein diet.

The chef has been given one year training on how to cook food with all organic ingredients so rest assured, you will consume nothing processed.

As Humza explained, there is going to be one standard menu that will change weekly, accompanied by one themed platter.

Garlic Butter Fish, Almond Bread Panini, Mini Burger combo and Seasonal Salad were part of the set menu during my visit while the theme of the night was a Pakistani platter offering Mutton Achari, Whole Wheat Paratha , Kachomar Salad and Basil Chatni, all for Rs 750.

I opted for the Garlic Butter fish from the menu of the week since fish was in season. Two portions of pan fried red salmon complemented by garlic rice and a small portion of iceberg salad was served on a white platter.

The fish portion was good enough to justify the price tag of Rs 900. It was light golden brown, dipped out of the pan just in time to leave a golden touch on the crust. It was just crunchy enough to save yourself from being charged for noise pollution.

The rice had the right amount of garlic mixed with a hint of butter but the salad helping could have been more generous than what was offered.

Other platters on the menu include a Mexican platter with homemade Tacos, Quesadillas and Nachos with mild or medium salsa to begin with as there can be lot of room to play with when it comes to Mexican cuisine -- Tostadas, Enchiladas, Guacamole all fall under a good, healthy organic plan.

The other close to home platter for Pakistanis is the Lebanese menu where one can’t go wrong with Shish Tawouk, Shawarma, Hummus, or other Mediterranean specialties.