Sensational Sugar!

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

It’s pretty difficult to muster up much enthusiasm over a sandwich, but a rather exceptional BLT from the new kid on the block, Sugar – with thick strips of crispy bacon, lashings of mayonnaise, and a fried egg precariously piled between two slices of bread – simply had us craving for more from the restaurant.

Sugar Bistro and Wine Bar is strategically located at Crescat Boulevard, right by the entrance, overlooking the driveway to the Cinnamon Grand. One can choose to dine either indoors or out, and the latter is surprisingly pleasant, with tables arranged under overhanging bushes and trees to the side of the restaurant, and with the soft yellow lighting from the quaint streetlamps lining the hotel driveway spilling onto the candlelit tables in the evening, which makes it a lovely place to relax at after a long day of work.

Run by the same management behind the restaurant Lemon and the club Silk, Sugar offers an all-day breakfast in addition to an a la carte menu, tapas, salads, soups, sandwiches and burgers (including the infamous Sugar burger – which the New Zealand cricket captain Ross Taylor discovered on their latest tour here and is a huge fan of), and a selection of mains and desserts. The mastermind behind the desserts is none other than celebrity chef Koluu, who heads the kitchen over at Lemon.

The restaurant boasts an extensive range of wines, with over 100 varieties on the list and furthermore, 15 of them are offered by the glass, which compared to other establishments that usually offer only the house wine in that manner, makes it very affordable for anyone looking to have a glass of wine with their meal. In fact, all the cocktails and other alcoholic beverages on the menu are very reasonably priced, as are most of the items available, both food and drink.

“Interestingly, every single wine on the list was chosen after a taste test – we literally had a group of people blind taste a selection of wines and the ones that ranked highest, purely on taste, were included on the menu. We have also made a conscious effort not to have supermarket wines,” revealed Director Dinesh Wijesinghe.

Some intoxicating highlights include the Espresso Martini – a heady mix of vodka, kahlua, chocolate shavings and a shot of espresso, which makes it feel like one is literally slurping down a dessert – definitely a must-try. The Ambarella Fizz and Clover Leaf are two more unusual selections on the menu and are worth a taste for their uniqueness.

“The prices of alcohol here are the cheapest in town and the prices of everything on the menu are pretty reasonable on the whole. This was done deliberately because the idea behind Sugar was to give patrons very good service and food and drink at reasonable rates, which is why we draw such a crowd,” he added.

The restaurant’s working hours, from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m., operating with no breaks in between, manned by two chefs and a waiting staff of 10, makes Sugar the ideal place to dine at any time of the day, be it an early breakfast, a midday snack or late dinner and drinks before a night out.

Many have tried Sugar’s range of burgers and sandwiches, but not much has been said about their mains and extensive dinner menu and so we decided to put it through the ultimate test – our stomachs – and we were far from disappointed. While everything that was dished out for us was up to standard, several delectable delights definitely stood out and made the evening a truly gastronomic experience.

First up was the roasted pumpkin soup with garlic chips, which, in its simplicity, was excellent. Served piping hot, the thick creamy soup was wonderfully flavoured, and the sudden crunch of garlic made a zesty addition. However, a smattering of herbs would have added some colour and more flavour to the soup.

My personal favourite of the night came next: the pepper crusted seared tuna and Asian salad dressed with wasabi mayo and a soya glaze. No criticisms about this one! It was absolutely perfect. The slabs of tuna were meat-like, the lettuce crisp and fresh, and the wasabi mayo was just inspired – you don’t notice it at first but it gives a wonderful aftertaste and the sting of the wasabi only hits you after a couple of bites – quite the welcome surprise.

Wijesinghe explained that the restaurant sources its tuna from a supplier who exports it and is generally the type used in sashimi, which explained its deliciousness. The Caesar salad was also sampled and while it was good, unfortunately it paled next to the tuna.

Moving on to the mains, the Cajun scented grilled prawns with chive potatoes and lemon emulsion consisted of massive prawns arranged on a bed of mashed potato, served with a side of salad and a tangy dip.

If filled on starters and looking to save on some space for dessert, this is the ideal choice as it’s not a very large portion. However, it was delicious. The prawns were simply grilled, with no other additions, and therefore went wonderfully with the accompanying dip, and the potato worked well as a hearty filler.

The salmon fillet crusted with dill on pearl couscous with dill aioli and lemon oil dressing smelled divine as it was brought to the table. The golden crusted salmon simply crumbles at the slightest touch and melts away deliciously in the mouth and is a very generous portion, so it’s best to opt for a light dessert or not stuff yourself on starters if you intend to have this.

Again, while the jerk spiced oven roasted leg of chicken with red wine jus was tasty, it fell short of the other two mains. Seafood reigned supreme at our table that evening.

Finally the desserts. I bravely went for the jasmine and honey infused green tea panacotta with minted lychee and ginger simply because it came across as the most unusual among the available selection – and it must be sampled! None of the ingredients overpowered the other and they blended into each other wonderfully. The green tea added a very interesting slightly bitter aftertaste to the light, sweet dessert.

The espresso and dark chocolate mousse really is an unbeatable combination, as it says on the menu. A chocoholic’s dream, it is just too divine. Dark, bitter, sweet, and overwhelming – a wonderful end to the meal.