The ambience wins hands down over the food at this cafe but the X factor is missing in action

The ambience wins hands down over the food at this cafe but the X factor is missing in action

If you don't mind buses, cars or even trucks trundling down, right next to you with alarming regularity while you sit and sip on your thick shake, then Cafe Y could be your perfect option for a lazy Sunday brunch.
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Strictly speaking, Cafe Y is more of a restaurant than a cafe, with hardly any options available for coffee or snacking.

But perhaps the best part of Cafe Y, if you can tune out the bustling traffic, is its al fresco seating. The cafe, done in cheery yellows and reds, extends its relaxed attitude to its outside seating.

Wooden chairs and tables are laid out in a tiny strip outside the restaurant amidst loads of colourful planters, greens and fairy lights.

Framed retro posters of cult films like Pulp Fiction and famous rock bands line the yellow walls, as you enter the cafe through the bright red door.

We headed to this cafe after work on a weekday, so the outside brunch-like setting seemed perfect to unwind. Once we got used to the constant stream of traffic along with blowing horns and screeching brakes, we looked into the menu.

The menu at Cafe Y offers salads, soups, pastas, steaks, and signature continental dishes from around the globe like Goulash (Hungary), Moussaka (Greece) and Shepherd's Pie (Britain) among others.

The Cafe has also introduced a new Chinese menu besides a special kiddie menu up its sleeves called Scooby Bites that comprises mini portions of burgers, hot dogs, pastas and pizzas served with a scoop of ice cream.
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And god forbid if adults want to dig into this mini-me menu, then they will have to shell out some extra dough to enjoy it.

We started off with the Crunchy Prawns served with salsa (Rs 165). After what seemed like an eternity, the food arrived,u00a0 nicely presented. The prawns were batter fried, with the outside being crunchy and the inside juicy.

The salsa seemed more like a salad than a dip so we had some issues when we tried to mope the prawns up with the salsa. The portion was perfect for two people to nibble into for starters. We chose the Shepherd's Pie (Rs 230) and The Chicken Olivia (Rs 230) as our mains next.

The Shepherd's Pie was a layer of minced lamb cooked with celery and carrots and came topped with a layer of mashed potatoes. Although the pie was quite interesting to taste with the meat being cooked finely, we felt the mashed potatoes had somewhere lost their soul with too much heating or microwaving.

The potatoes were dry and a bit overdone instead of the usual buttery, soft mash that ought to be used for this dish. The Chicken Olivia turned out to be the winner of this meal. Pieces of grilled chicken were cooked in a tomato-basil sauce and served on a bed of spaghetti with boiled veggies and topped with a fried egg.
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The chicken was grilled perfectly and was not doused too much with the tomato sauce. It was just enough to mix up with the spaghetti. The fried egg added another soul-food like touch to the dish.

We decided to give the Blueberry Cheesecakes and Chocolate Mousses a miss and instead settled for the Caramel Custard (Rs 130). The caramel custard arrived quivering on a plate as we waited with our dessert spoons poised in anticipation.
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The custard was overly sweet and smelt of a biscuit-like synthetic essence which we couldn't quite place. We were done with it after a bite or two. The portions served at Cafe Y are quite decent and can easily satisfy two people.

The ambience is pleasant, except perhaps if we could ignore the hurtling traffic outside. Perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch and people watching, this cafe could be your respite from the daily fight.
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At: Cafe Y, 2/2, Langford Road - Eagle Street Intersection, Langford Town
Call: 4114 4561
Meal for two: Rs Rs 800
Cafe Y didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals.