Written by: Hurmat Majid
Posted on: September 27, 2022 | 
| 中文
Lunch at The Verge (Picture credits to The Verge)
Karachi’s pallet is more diversified now than ever before. We have more eateries experimenting with an array of ingredients and helping us taste the world on our plate, in the comfort of our own city. That’s what The Verge does. Situated at Khayaban-i-Bukhari in DHA, Karachi, the restaurant boasts of a tastefully hip interior and a limited but skillfully designed menu that emphasizes seafood.
The restaurant has two floors and we chose to be seated in the basement, here the moody lighting and the chic but comfortable seating set us up for a great tasting experience.
The basement of The Verge
We took a minute to go through the menu before picking out a shared starter of Steak Bits, served on a bed of potato mash with garlic oil on the side. For mains, we chose a bowl of Seafood Pasta, Fish and Chips, along with an iced tea and a Raspberry Mojito. To end the affair, we had a Silken Chocolate Tart.
To be fair, the service did take a long time, even for the dessert that we are pretty sure came pre-prepared and had to only be cut in a slice to be served, took a good 20 minutes to be served.
Was the food worth the wait? Yes, it was. Our shared starter, though it might be considered a bit sparse, came with bags of flavour. It was beef cut up in bite size pieces, fried up with herbs and aromatics. The potato mash was well seasoned and had a good smooth texture. The garlic oil that the dish was served with, made a big difference bringing a bunch of tastes to the plate.
Lobster fries
The drinks came halfway between the starter and the main course, and while the iced tea was adequate, we certainly have had better. The Raspberry Mojito was also quite okay but did not leave us anything to write home about.
The mains were truly the hero of the show. Both, the Seafood Pasta and the Fish and Chips were served generously. The hand-cut thick chips that came with the fish dish were truly something else, one could tell just by looking at them that the chips were made fresh and did not come from a freezer bag. That’s really saying something, since even eateries which previously served fresh fries have turned to frozen ones lately.
Chips and fish at The Verge
The fish had a well-seasoned batter coating that reminded us a little bit of KFC, but in a pleasant way. The white bass inside was succulent and not completely dried out. The dish really hit the spot!
Moving on to the pasta, the dish was served in a hearty bowl and they really did not skimp on the shrimp or the calamari. There was enough seafood in the bowl for one to enjoy some with every mouthful. In terms of the sauce, the pasta was made in an olive oil base with coarsely ground chilli and some garlic, which is a winning combination when done right. The little notes of parsley here and there and the lemon, and really made the dish a favorite of our choices that day.
Seafood Pasta (Picture taken from Facebook page of The Verge)
The proof was in the pudding, as both our dishes were completely polished off. We could have walked out of the restaurant completely content and happy at that point, but we decided to share a desert.
From the choices of gelatos and desserts, we chose to have the Silken Chocolate Tart. The Tart was made with what looked like an Oreo base, with silky chocolate mousse perfectly piped into it. The mousse was perfect, with the right balance of sweet and bitter notes and the texture was on point, but what really threw it off for us was the Oreo base. It did not go well with the texture of the mousse, and we were tempted to scrape the mousse off and eat it without the tart base. However, the flavour and texture of the mousse really did make up for the base, and in the end, our evening did end on a pleasant note.
Coffee and Chocolate Tart
We paid nearly Rs 8,000 PKR for our meal, and in all fairness, but given the inflation and the quality of the food, that seems to be a fair price.
So, the verdict, in the end, is that while The Verge will not become our go-to place any time soon, we really would want to go back and try some of the other interesting dishes on the menu, like the Lobster Roll and the Octopus dish that has been the talk of the town since it was first added to the menu. The Verge is one of those places one may end up going to for special occasions.
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