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| Prawn Salsa |
Gon Pacci lives up to its name by providing a flavourful dining experience in an environment that calms and is peaceful to senses.
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| Braised Lamb Shank |
Feng Shui is an
ancient Chinese lifestyle referring to a peaceful, serene and calm environment
and space. This is exactly what felt as I entered Gon Pacci, the new
eatery at Shahbaz Commercial DHA, Karachi which is designed on Feng Shui.
Gon Pacci just opened last week only, and the
staff is already busy. With a 100 people seating capacity spread
over two complete floors, and an exciting menu; no wonder they are already booked for parties and events beside busy lunch and dinner hours.
I was totally
intrigued by its interiors and the
finger foods served at its launch party. Could not resist going back for
a detailed lunch and tête-à-tête
with the owners and chef the
following Sunday. The menu presents a great selection of meat, seafood,
poultry, pasta and vegetable dishes all cooked using low salt and minimum spices- indeed
reflect Feng Shui. Talking to the owners and chef, they explained the cuisine
at Gon Pacci a fusion of several cooking traditions that includes French,
Italian, Japanese, Thai and more. So we analysed this very creative menu that contained enough to choose from appetizers,
main course, drinks and deserts.
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| Add caption |
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| Tamarind Cooler Sprinkled with Roasted Cumin |
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| Beef Roulette |
My lunch kicked
off with a very refreshing and spicy Tamarind Cooler. I had this
before at other restaurants but this one stands out because it is
thicker, just the right level of tanginess and sprinkled with roasted cumin
(zeera) that gave it an awesome crunch and toasty lavour. For appetizers, I dared to
try their Sushi Salad, let me confess I am not a Sushi lover at all. However,
the smoky flavour of red snapper with sticky rice mingled with wasabi sauce and
the crunchy rocket and iceberg salads won me over.
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| Sushi Twist Salad |
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| Beef Roulette |
We waited our
main course eagerly to arrive, and to surprise us we were served this
rare to find braised lamb shank. This mouth watering piece of meat is cooked in its own juices that not only sealed
the flavours but like perfect braised meat was fork tender and had a unique
taste, very satisfying with the mashed potatoes.
The next hit with us was
the chicken legs seasoned with herbs perfectly slow cooked and submerged in its
own fat creating a palatable confit jus, served with vegetables. Unlike the signature salty taste of confit, this has just about the
right level of salt and mingled with veggies created a delightful dish. I have
completely wiped off this plate. The seafood entre that we ordered was an
interesting and very beautifully plated fillet of red snapper all wrapped in potato
slices and then pan seared topped with leek fondue sauce. The subtly
sweet and delicate taste of leeks, pleased the tastebuds very well with red
snapper. This is a great side dish and a good choice for people looking for
small meals.
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| Chicken Confit |
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| Potato Wrapped Red Snapper |
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| Chicken and Tofu Burger |
I can be labeled as a burger addict, to satisfy my
global hunt for that perfect burger, I ordered one at Gon Pacci as well. The chicken and tofu patty totally confused me. For a quarter pounder of 100% meat addict, this
is not the fix I would want. Why mix the two for the sake of creativity, when the result
does not create anything significant tasting!! I suggested the Executive Chef to
try out only with Tofu to please vegans. He was one pleasant person to listen to suggestions and customer satisfaction is what is top priority for the team.
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| Crab Lollipop |
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| Chocolate Cake |
Shahnawaz and
Taimur the two very young owners with their love of food, and the growing
culinary market in Karachi ventured into opening this place. Without much
background of restaurant industry, this can be a big risk. Nevertheless, they did a
fabulous job of hiring a great kitchen crew with an equally competent and
experienced captain the Executive Chef who has experience of working in some
top restaurants of the area. Since I stayed past the lunchtime and was fortunate to get hold of Jalal the very friendly Executive Chef as he entered balancing bags of grocery for an evening party. He proudly mentioned he is very particular about
picking the ingredients himself including produce from the market ensuring they are fresh and of prime quality.
With this great team at work, the restaurant is bound to make its mark on
customers and have a long way to go.
Gon Pacci is
open from 12:00am-12:pm for lunch and dinners and in a few weeks time they will
be launching breakfast opening from 8:00am. The prices are reasonable keeping
in mind the prime quality of dishes served here, for a 3-course meal the cost
per person would be approximately 1200 and around 1600 for five-course meal.
Gon Pacci lives
up to its name by providing a flavourful dining experience in an environment
that calms and is peaceful to senses.
Review: Farah Kamal
Photography: Farah Kamal and Shahrukh Mughal
GON PACCI 10/C,Khayaban-e-Shahbaz Phase 6, D.H.A
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