Vivace is a new, relatively unknown coffee lounge by The Fab. They’ve got a chic space but both the food and drinks were underwhelming.
The Food & Drinks
We heard about Vivace a few weeks back, and we managed to make a pit stop. They’ve got a relatively small menu for both food and beverages priced between Rs. 350 – Rs. 550. This isn’t really a fully fledged cafe, it seems more like something The Fab is just experimenting with.
The cappuccino (Rs. 300) was decent but I felt the ratio to milk to expresso was a bit skewed to the latter making it pretty mild. The positives here were that it was the right consistency and you get a pretty big cup.
The strawberry meringue shake (Rs. 280) was an exaggeration. There were no meringue. At all. When I ordered it I was like “”Hmm this sounds different””. But then what I ended up with was a plain old strawberry milkshake. The shake was fine, but how hard is it to blend strawberry ice cream and milk?
For food we tried their fish and chips with tartar sauce (Rs. 550). The portion size while not the largest, was okay for the price. The fries were as good as they can get with proper seasoning and just the right crispy texture. The tartar sauce was also excellent, with a good mix of herbs to add another layer of flavour.
This was off to a great start, but lo and behold they had drop the ball with the most important element of the dish, the fish. The fish, unlike the fries, were soggy, too flaky and under seasoned. The other big misstep was that we came across quite a few bones, which is a cardinal sin when it comes to serving fish fillets.
To complete the meal we were hoping to try out some desserts, only to be informed that they were unavailable at the time. So maybe you guys can try them and let us know the verdict in the comments section.
Ambience & Service
Vivace is on the first floor of The Fab in Borella and they’ve got a pretty classy interior. They stuck to a tried and tested formula with wooden floors and black sofas, a good spot for a business meetup. One thing that we found pretty cool were the posters of late musicians like Kurt Cobain, John Lennon and Bob Marley. A bit random, but still a pretty nice touch.
Service is handled by one somewhat unenthusiastic gentleman. He seems like a no nonsense type of guy but he could do with a bit more smiling. The plus point is that service is fast and the beverages are ready almost instantly.
Conclusion
Vivace isn’t quite ready to challenge the big dogs yet. The menu needs more variety and they need to brush up on what they actually offer.
