Weekend grub: Does Dialogue bring anything new to Karachi's food scene?

I must confess I am wary of any restaurant that opens to a slew of rave reviews on social media, especially when said reviews tend to be praising the same aspects of the place. After all, in this age of alt-truth, who is to say what is real and what is not?

Dialogue is one such new entrant, whose arrival to Karachi's food scene has been accompanied by a slew of positive news.

Where to go

Dialogue is situated in the growing restaurant hub of Bukhari Commerical, DHA. It's a large property, with seating on the ground floor as well as the basement. The ground floor, with vast expanses of plate glass and an open kitchen. is a welcoming space, with tables spaced well from each other.

The overall vibe is industrial, with some contemporary flourishes, such as their 'selfie wall' which, with its back-lit glass bottles, brings a distinct Buddha Bar vibe into play.

The basement carries the industrial look even further, with concrete and brickwork finishes on the walls and is, by Karachi standards, an enormous space. All this concrete doesn't do the acoustics any favours, though, and the juice bar doesn't help either. If you are looking to have a dialogue at Dialogue, my tip would be to request a table on the upper level. Overall, a large restaurant (by Karachi standards) and quite tastefully decorated, barring some minor quibbles.

When to go

Dialogue is currently open for dinner, from 8 pm to 1 am. We visited at 9.30 pm on a Saturday night, and the place was almost fully packed. Feeling glad for our reservation, we were initially seated in the basement area. Although spacious, the lower level is their smoking floor, so we asked to be moved upstairs, a request that was accommodated after about ten minutes.

Despite the restaurant being quite busy, the staff didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry to turn tables over. While our group was quite happy to sit and chat, having to attract staff attention to first get menus and then place the order was a bit strange, especially given how busy the place was, and with not one but three front of house folks around to keep an eye on things. When the server did come across to take our orders, he was extremely good. Proactive with recommendations, helpful, and engaged.

What to order

The menu at Dialogue is varied, to say the least. Clearly, the owners would like this to be an 'all things to all people' family restaurant, and the menu offerings reflect the same desire. All the old stalwarts are there (Moroccan chicken, anyone?), along with a full range of pizzas and pasta, as well as a few slightly more unusual offerings.

It was also good to see a fairly comprehensive kids' menu. Still, some odd notes; a few typos here and there and, for the first time in my life, I saw 'happy cow' cheese used as a hook to market a burger.

For starters, we ordered the Dynamite Prawns (because, why not?) and a Shrimp and Pesto Pizza. We also ordered a trio of their signature slushes (Green Apple, Passion fruit and Strawberry), which arrived promptly, with varying degrees of slushiness. All three were reasonable, if a bit on the sweet side, but the stand-out was the Green Apple. A great balance of sweet and tart, and very refreshing.

Dynamite Prawns have, thanks to P.F. Chang and cheap holiday packages to Dubai, become the go-to starter in Karachi restaurants as varied as Barbeque Tonight and Tao. Dialogue's version stays true to the core concept (battered prawns: check. drowned in spicy mayo: check. Bed of lettuce no one ever eats: check. Martini glass: check), and doesn't really add any new twist to a proven concept.

That's not really a criticism; why change a recipe which isn't broken? The prawns were well cooked, the mayo had a nice balance of flavours, and the martini glass didn't wobble too much. So far so good. By the time the starters arrived, we had already been in the restaurant for over half an hour, and most of the dish had been polished off by the time I could fire off a photograph.

On to the pizza. Thinnish crust and served on a board, with the slices cut asymmetrically, all nice and artisan-ey. the flavours, too, delivered extremely well. The pesto was well flavoured, the basil coming through strongly, and the feta cheese crumbled on top providing a great counterbalance. The shrimp was cut quite small and didn't really bring much to the party, but nonetheless this was an extremely accomplished offering.

The starters had gotten our attention. While we weren't sure what to expect when we first walked into the restaurant, two very well-executed dishes had us excited for what was to come next. After a bit of a wait, the table was cleared rather hastily (prompted by one of the front of house team), and the mains arrived.

First up was the oven roasted chicken. This is, if Instagram is to be believed, their most popular dish. Served skin-on and mostly off the bone, with a 'parsley butter sauce' that features in quite a few of Dialogue's offerings. The chicken was cooked absolutely immaculately, extremely juicy and with a nice balance of flavours.

The skin, although not super crispy, was not soggy and worked well with the meat. The parsley butter sauce had a bit of heat to it, which was unexpected, but complemented the chicken quite well. A very good dish, well prepared and well presented. Worth the hype, and building on the good work done by the starters.

Up next was the steak. Tenderloin, ordered cooked medium-well, and with the mushroom sauce. The presentation was, again, pretty standard for a steak anywhere in Karachi, except that the sauce was on the side and not poured over the meat. which is a good thing, as it allows one to choose how much or how little to deploy.

The meat was cooked exactly as ordered, and had a nice sear to it. The sides were also well prepared (the baked potato could have done with another 10 minutes in the oven, but I am being picky). My friend was very happy with his selection, and would recommend it. I thought that the mushrooms in the sauce were of the canned variety, and having them chopped more finely would have better disguised that watery taste canned mushrooms tend to have.

Next up, one of the more unusual items on the menu: Nasi Goreng. I am a huge fan of this form of Indonesian fried rice, and have eaten it in restaurants here and overseas. Dialogue's version was served with prawn crackers, chicken satay and a satay sauce. The presentation was quite good (other than some chopped herbs scattered unnecessarily all over the plate). But the proof of the pudding, as they say...

The flavours of this dish were really disappointing. The egg was overcooked; the yolk is supposed to ooze into the rice, offsetting the spiciness of the rice with a creamy element. This component was completely missing. The rice itself was not well balanced.

The Sambal Oelek was quite overwhelming, and the sweetness of the Indonesian soy sauce missing in action. The prawn crackers were extremely oily, almost as if they had not been drained at all. The satay were... not satay. There wasn't a trace of peanut anywhere, in fact the overall taste was of tamarind, oddly enough. The sauce, also, didn't taste of peanuts. A complete misstep of a dish.

On to the final main, the Surf and Turf platter. our server assured us that this was meant for two to share. A piece of tenderloin, a portion of jumbo prawns and a lobster, with an assortment of sauces, all for only Rs. 2,800! What could go wrong?

Not much, actually. The steak was, once again, cooked perfectly (medium, this time), and tasted perfectly fine on its own. I didn't try the sauces, as they had developed an off-putting skin on top by the time the order was served. The prawns were well cooked and went well with the ubiquitous parsley butter, although once again I wasn't sure if the heat in the sauce was really necessary, as it did take the subtlety out of it.

The lobster was, not entirely surprisingly, a small-ish portion, It was cooked relatively well, but didn't have that melt-in-your-mouth goodness that turns it into a stellar dish. Overall, quite good, and certainly enough for two (or a very hungry one).

Having been generally pleased with the food so far, we were looking forward to dessert, and asked for the bread pudding and the lava cake, to share at the table. The leisurely pace of the service continued, and we chatted away, not too bothered with the glasses not having been cleared. As the clock started to tick towards the Witching Hour, though, we thought to follow up on how much longer it would be. It turned out that the server who had cleared the dishes had forgotten to punch in the order!

Our server was apologetic, and offered to have the order placed right away, but it was getting late and we had sleeping children to get back to, so we decided to call it a night. A bit disappointing as ends to the evening go, especially as the front of house team seemed completely oblivious to what was going on.

Damage to the pocket?

Starters, mains (including lobster) and drinks set us back Rs. 8,600 for 5 people (excluding tip). Had we succeeded in ordering dessert, the per head cost would be around Rs. 2,000. So the pricing is towards the higher end, but not truly premium. No premium specials either, at this point. This looks like its a place directed firmly at families in need of a good meal with little experimentation.

Author's note: We walked into Dialogue not sure what to expect. The initial impression, with a full house and staff apparently struggling, didn't bode well for the kitchen to able to deliver at a high standard. But deliver it did (with one exception). The front of house needs to raise its game, though, both to ensure missteps are avoided and then, when they happened, addressed quickly.

I would recommend Dialogue as a good place to have conventional dishes, cooked well, and delivered in an unassuming packaging. If you need a place to sit and chat for hours without the wait staff hovering over you, no matter how busy a night it is, this is the place for you. Just stick to the classics in your order, and check your watch at the door.