If you want to splurge on a special occasion and are on the look out for contemporary food in a place with sleek ambiance, look no further.  5 Senses is the place for you. This contemporary Mediterranean restaurant has the 'IT' factor to make the day special. The restaurant has numerous images of yesteryears Hollywood stars on the walls, which gives you the feeling of dining with the stars. There is a nice L- shaped mocktail counter, also a fabulous patio with LED lights twinkling like the stars to set the mood  and modern furniture to go with it. The modern style does not stop there, it heads into your menu which looks like a travel guide. The menu is a rich mix of food from France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Lebanon and other countries around the mediterranean sea. One look through the menu can have you confused on what to order. Lucky for us,  Chef Jiten himself was present to help us through.

We were served some of the softest breads. It tasted awesome with a dash olive oil, vinegar and creamy cheese. After which Divyan jumped in and started of the proceeding by ordering Spanakopita, but unlucky me, by the time I was done clicking the pictures, spanakopita had vanished. Chef went about ordering the rest of the dishes for the evening. Panka Crumbed Jalapenos was crisply fried, and tasted amazing, the cream, added taste to the Jalapenos. I had got myself a Caramel Mudslide to quench my thirst. But I must say, the drink was not to my liking, it was way too light. Some other drinks which made the rounds were Hot Chocolate, Iced Cookies, Mid Summer, Watermelon & Habanereo Tea.

After the scrumptious jalapenos, I sampled the stuffed mushrooms. It was soft, tender and juicy, with a fabulously crispy outter covering, which was more like the local Bajji!. After such excellent vegetarian starters, I wondering, what could be in store for the non-vegetarian section of starters. Just when my thoughts went wandering and also as I was getting a bit mesmerized by the flavors, we were served with Chef's Non Veg Sampler and Tapas Platter. One platter had lamb on skewers, batter fried prawns, chicken wings, and crumb fried fish, while the other had smoked salmon and mushroom bruschetta The smoked salmon, batter fried prawns and the crumb fried fish made me go ga ga!. Each item on the platter had its own unique taste and flavor. And the presentation of the dishes rocked.

After the wonderful starters, we ventured to the main course. My favorite dish by far, among the main course was, the Smoked Salmon on Fusilli. Guess I have become a sucker for Salmon. The salmon was torn into small pieces and mixed with the pasta. The smoked flavor was well incorporated into the fusilli as well. This dish was the fastest to disappear off the table. Very, very delicious and an absolute must try. The other pasta to be served for us was the Chicken Skewers on Spaghetti. The chicken was well cooked and juicy with loads of flavor. When mixed along with spaghetti, it was fantastic.

After some lip smacking pasta, I tried the Lamb Chops and Lamb Tagine.  Both the lambs were well cooked, making them very tender and juicy. The lamb chops had copious amount of flavor and tasted fantastic with the green chutney. The Lamb Tagine tasted a bit different, with a gravy kind of base. Both the dishes were served with Couscous, which was very similar to Upma ( a local dish ). Last but not the least, there was a very delicious lip smacking Veg. ravioli,  which had a  mild chilli hit to it. I would definitely want to try the veg. ravioli the next time I am here.

No meal is complete without desserts, and we were served with Alphonso Creme Brulee and Callebaut Crostata. Some people were disappointed to see that the Creme Brulee did not come in the traditional crispy top form. But I did not mind it, and gorged on the lovely mango and bailey ice cream combo. Callebaut Crostata seemed the favorite among the lot. Crostata was like a chocolate tart. The chocolate flavor was deep and very rich. The ice cream and tart duo was heavenly.

This maybe my the 6th visit to 5Senses. On my previous occasions, I just could not click a proper pictures, because of the dim lighting, lucky today we were seated in a hall with bright lights, so voila you have some lovely pictures to see. During my 1st visit here, I was literally in tears seeing the NANO portions served here. But they seem to have improved the portions a bit. It seems to have moved from Nano portions to  about-normal portions, which seems just right. The pasta portions seemed large and the pizza retained its proportions. They have maintained their top quality and also the fabulous presentation. Would I visit again? YES! With a big smile.

Food - 8.5/10
Ambiance - 8.5/10
Price - 7.5/10

5 Senses is located on Khader Nawaz Khan Road, next to Barista.

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Greek cuisine is a mediterranean cuisine, sharing characteristics of the cuisines of Italy and Turkey. When Cheese, Olive Oil, Breads, Eggplant and Yogurt combine together to produce fusion food, it is bound to be good. I was at Kryptos by Willi, for the formal unveiling of the bi-lingual menu of the restaurant. At first I thought it was going to be English and some Greek letters on the menu, but it was surprise to see Tamil subtitles in the menu. This was the first time I have came across a menu which had description of the food in Tamil. It was really interesting and funny to read the description in Tamil, as I had forgotten how to read Tamil. I must say it is a very brave move by the management to add Tamil to the menu. Kudos to the management for this decision.

Coming to the food, I had left the Vegetarian dishes alone, for the veggies to judge them. To start the proceedings there were varieties of dips with pita bread. My favorite was clearly Hummus. My love for hummus has been on the rise and this day was no exception. We were served either Ice Tea or Tangy orange drink. I stuck to Ice Tea  It was nice and soothing to the throat. Non-Vegetarian and Vegetarian Meze Platter were served on the table. The Non-Vegetarian Meze Platter comprised of Lamb and Aubergine rolls, Kotopoulopithakia and Crispy fried lady finger fish. The fish looked nice and golden brown. I took a bite expecting it to cooked right through with the bones being crispy. But to my surprise the bones were not crispy and that brought down the experience. The lamb rolls were juicy and delicious. Kotopoulopithakia is chicken apricot and feta. This was my favorite in the platter. It tasted heavenly, it had a nice phyllo pastry covering, which made it crispy. Think of it as a small and expensive looking puff. All in all the platter was very decent.

After the Mezze Platter, we were served with different variations of Potato. There were Wedges, Mash and Potato with sour cream. I selected the wedges, which were very crispy even after I was done clicking. There were also decent amount of salads. Of all the vegetable salads I distinctly remember the brilliant veg.club sandwich, I just loved it. There was also a cheese ball which tasted divine. I gave the other salads a pass.

We had some mouth watering choices for the main course. Kotopoulo me pilafi, is chicken breasts roasted with garlic and mint. The taste was luscious and I enjoyed having it. They also had Kolios sto fourno ( I am not using any bad language here ) which is an oven baked mackerel. I was expecting really big things from this dish, but it was a little disappointing, when I consumed it. The fish felt it was under cooked. It was chewy and rubbery, also difficult to pierce with a fork. The highlight main course was the Meatballs in tomato sauce. This dish was a gastronomical delight. It had nice soothing sweet trace. I am pretty sure I consumed atleast 3-4 meatballs. There was a garlic rice which I avoided. I washed this sumptuous meal with a Coke. The can was made to commemorate Sachin's 100 centuries.

After the lip smacking food, we had the deserts. The Chocolate pie was top-notch. It was moist with good amount of chocolate flowing when I tried to cut it with a spoon. If you are a choco freak, you would love it. There was also a Baklava, which was sticky with loads of honey drizzled on it. It tasted nice, but I have had better and even richer versions from the middle east made of Camel milk.

The ambiance is really wonderful with nice music playing in the background. They a big 20 seat table in the middle of the restaurant which can be used if you come in as large group. The place had a nice rock and granite decor which gave it a rustic feel.

A meal for would set you back by Rs 1600/-. If you love greek food or if you are in the mood for something different give Kryptos a try. I am sure you would return home impressed.

Food - 8/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Cost - 7/10

Krytos is located in Khader Nawaz Khan road, right opposite the old Mocha.

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