You know those proverbs? Like Don’t judge a book by its cover and All that glitters isn’t gold?




Yes they’re terrible cliches, I know, but bear with me.




Last Sunday a group of us from the CAL Bloggers Table made our way to Rose cafe for brunch.




An afternoon that held great promise, it did not live up to our expectations.




In retrospect, I should have paid more attention to the signs. Because they were there.




The blank, undiscerning eyes of the staff. The slowly deteriorating quality of food as each dish made its way to the table. The snail-like service.




I didn’t see all of it at first. Why? Because I was high on the pink-ness of it all.




But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?




As I walked into the cafe, I thought to myself – what a beautiful place. The cafe was (very) pink, but accentuated with delicate white lace curtains, small antiques, and chalkboard menus. It had rustic chairs and flowered sofas and hanging lamps. Heck, even the restroom was pretty.




The afternoon started out well. Everyone was seated at a long table and the first things we tried were pizzas and drinks.
The pizzas were good.




This bacon and caramelised onion one made me happy. That kaffir lime drink also, in the background, was very refreshing.







After that we all tried several things. This was fun because everyone ordered something and then passed it around the table for everyone else to taste. Some of the stuff we tried were the chicken bites, the pepper salad, beans in a bun, fried fish, mustard chicken, ham and cheese chicken, and several types of cake. Not one of those things were good enough for me to want to go back again.




The one exception was the Shepherds pie – the mashed potatoes and well-cooked mince reminded me of how my Mum makes it at home.




The desserts in particular were a big disappointment. Almost all the cakes were dense, hard, and cold, the Tiramisu was only half-decent, and the coconut macaroons were just sad.




The service became worse and worse as our meal progressed, and by the end it was just absurd. I distinctly recall jacket potatoes and coffee cake arriving at the table at the same time.




After a very ordinary meal coupled with wonderful company, I was still ready to look at the experience glass half-full.
(I was still ill with pink-ness I’m guessing)




Then came the deal breaker. A staff member who can only be described as a lousy excuse for a human being took it upon himself to address some of us in the most appalling, unacceptable manner. I am ready to forgive the slow, confused service and the terribly ordinary food, but a shocking lack of basic manners and respect (anywhere, but especially in this business) is not acceptable.




Rose cafe is like the dressed-up child-catcher van. Sorry, you need to have seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to understand that.
Watch this video to see what I mean.




Final analysis: I know it’s a pretty place. But there’s an ugliness lurking inside. Stay away.




Here’s what some of the others had to say:
Sid- Chef at Large
Rituparna- Chocolates & Dreams
Himanshu- The White Ramekins
Sushmita- My Unfinished life
Deeba- Passionate about baking
Sangeeta- Banaras ka khana