A dear old friend from Islamabad was recently visiting Karachi for a few days and was staying at the Pearl-Continental Hotel on Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road in Karachi. As it was an office trip and his schedule was packed, we decided to meet for breakfast at the hotel’s on-site restaurant, Marco Polo. The buffet was eclectic to say the least, and I was bowled over by the variety of food items on offer and on display.

My friend and I go a long way back and are die-hard foodies. Between us, we relished the halwa puri and sweet lassi (freshly churned buttermilk) with puffed-up puris; the tantalising chicken qeema (ground meat) with freshly made parathas (shallow-fried flatbread) cut into triangles; and the aromatic beef nihari, with its perfectly tenderised meat that could give even the famous Javed Nihari a run for its money. Next, the chef at the live counter whipped up cheesy omelettes with mushrooms, which we savoured with super-soft croissants fresh out of the oven.

‘I’m Being Hurried into a Marriage Against My Wishes’

Since we both had a busy day ahead of us, we had decided to meet at the restaurant as early as 7.30am, an hour after it opens for breakfast. To our relief, we found only a few tables occupied, leaving us to dine in peace.

But our joy was short-lived, for shortly after, the entire dining area was abuzz with guests sipping away freshly squeezed fruit juices, nibbling on crunchy hashbrowns and chicken sausages, grilled tomatoes, cold cuts of smoked salmon fillets and chicken strips. Meanwhile, the kids were drowning cereals and muesli in milk baths, piling towers of cloudy pancakes dripping with maple syrup and eyeing steaming-hot waffles drizzled with honey. The cheeseboard was an altogether different story.

Eventually, it was time to call off our feeding frenzy or breakfast orgy, or whatever you may call it, fueled as it was by endless cups of karak doodh-patti

chai (strong milk tea) for me, and a bottomless kettle of strong black coffee for my buddy. While saying our goodbyes, we vowed to meet again soon for another feast of the five senses.

The writer is a member of staff.
X: faisal_quraishi

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 15th, 2024