When you enter the Roman Ridge Arcade from the North entrance and endure the tedium of the concrete hallway, you will be rewarded with a beautiful green oasis serviced by a skylight in the centre of the building.
This welcome sight of vegetation is over looked on the left by a collection of dark furniture arranged restaurant style on a terrace coloured green and sunflower yellow. This is the Escapade Bistro & Café.
The friendly staff usually waylay you from the hallway as there’s another restaurant right next to it. They needn’t bother, though, because their menus are nothing alike. While this other restaurant (which Business World has reviewed once) serves mostly local dishes, Escapade only serves foreign cuisine.
They have pasta dishes, pizzas, burgers, cream soups and steaks. An extensive menu and everything is available; at least so it was when I was there. It was after work hours, which is great because they stay open long after their neighbours close. They also serve lunch.
I ordered the roast pork with vegetables and begun the wait with a glass of dirty Pina Colada. Let me just take a moment to rave about the Pina Colada. They make it from scratch, none of that boxed juice nonsense most bars have adopted. Almost right under my nose and to my delight the bar tender dumped the chunks of fresh pineapple and coconut flesh into the blender with ice and poured in the rum. It was served in a big, chilled, cocktail glass and garnished with a cherry and a pineapple wedge. The taste was out of this world!
I was only halfway through with the delicious cocktail when my pork arrived smelling heavenly. It came with sautéed vegetables and some plain rice. The waiter served a steak knife with my cutlery and it turned out that I needed it. It’s a good thing it wasn’t called “tenderloin” on the menu because there was nothing tender about it. Getting that slice of pork down was a chore. It seemed to have been a pretty old pig; difficult to chew but quite tasty. Perhaps I’d have had better luck with one of their other dishes. I’ll have to try their Lasagne the next time I’m there.
Cooking rice is not a special art; there are even appliances that can do it almost all on their own so no extra points there.
I will give points for their service, though. It was pleasant and prompt and they managed to be attentive to each customer. The manageress was on hand playing the concerned hostess and the prices were reasonable. All in all, an agreeable dining experience.
Escapade Bistro & Café should be on your list of restaurants to visit if even only for their delightful cocktails.