One of the newest watering holes jaded yuppies of Karachi can head to is Cafe M Live. Located on one of Zamzama’s side streets, it provides an interesting menu in line with the upscale continental eating houses of the area, and its focus on entertainment laced with food recalls the ghost of Cafe Blue.

The decor has a post-industrial modern feel to it and one is surrounded by a multi-media barrage of movies, sports, posters and piped music blaring out from all directions as one sups on one’s Foie Gras (kidding...excuse the wandering imagination, that should read pepper steak). Think Planet Hollywood meets the Hard Rock Cafe (not that there’s much difference between the two ridiculously overpriced outlets that pedal bland tasting food with cornball celebrity endorsements). But all the decor and atmosphere in the world cannot rescue a restaurant if its food is just plain bad. Luckily, Cafe M passes the acid test, as the food has flavour and texture and if the joint finds its sea legs, it might become a regularly visited fixture on the Karachi food circuit.

Launched a couple of months ago, the initial menu featured various items from Continental and Chinese cuisine. However, that didn’t quite click with the clientele and the management decided to narrow down the choices. Now the eatery concentrates exclusively on French and Italian cuisine, straying from the formula occasionally for off-and-on food festivals and other promotions.

Apart from feeding and watering clients, Cafe M’s specialty is that it also holds regular unplugged and otherwise performances from many of today’s top popstars — hence the ‘Live’ bit in the moniker. The capacity is about 80 heads for the performances, where it is mostly a farshi affair, while on regular days the establishment can accommodate 60 diners.

But forgetting all the bells and whistles for a moment and concentrating exclusively on the food, it’s safe to say that you’ll get your money’s worth. For starters, we sampled the garlic bread, which comes in two versions — with cheese and without. The plain version was okay, much like the fare you find at franchise pizza outlets, but the cheese version with a generous slice of mozzarella and a tangy tomato sauce was excellent, if a little burnt at the edges. Cafe M’s tomato (Rs70) soup was also sampled, along with the cream of mushroom (Rs75). Both were slightly above average, though the cream of mushroom had the edge in taste. An interesting tuna salad followed, which clearly reflected the Mediterranean touch as it was garnished with not only greens but slices of tangerine! Recommended for the gastronomic adventurers.

As for the drinks, apart from the regulation soda pop, there is a colourful array of creatively named mocktails and virgin margaritas. Names like Hysteria (inspired by the Def Leppard song??) Use Your Illusions (Axl Rose, where are you?) and Deep Blue Sea at least made for interesting reading. We sampled Deep Blue Sea, a concoction of blueberries and lime that had a nice kick to it, as well as a new creation called Ferrari, pink in colour, which was some sort of rose/watermelon hybrid.

For the main course, the delectable and quite juicy pepper steak was sampled, along with the chicken with mushroom sauce and Chicken Julienne. The sauces were just in the right quantity and with the help of condiments such as tabasco, the steak dinner can be quite a filler. But the real masterpiece of the joint is their pastas; rich, well cooked and quite tender. The Quattro Formage or four-cheese pasta with white sauce arguably took the cake as far as flavour was concerned.

Moving onto deserts, the Cafe has two tiers of confection; in-house and out of station. We tried both varieties. From the out of station goodies, the chocolate fudge cake with butterscotch ice cream was quite delightful, though a little too sweet. But the absolute piece de resistance was the chocolate mousse (Rs99). For a true chocolate lover, it is nirvana. Beautifully textured and extremely creamy with just the right amount of sweetness, it is one of the best chocolate desserts to be found in Karachi. It straddles the territory between mousse, blancmange and ice cream. The cafe also has on offer cheese wraps, kind of like crepes, that are in-house.

A good way to top off dinner is with one of the flavoured coffees. The almond coffee was quite strong and might be a little too strong for the occasional coffee drinker, but for enthusiastic lovers of Java, it was just what the doctor ordered. Cappuccino is also available.

The total cheque for two came to a little over Rs1,000. It’s a little pricey but considering the league of eateries Cafe M is in, it seems justified (of course then there’s the exorbitant Zamzama rent). Overall an enjoyable dining experience in sedate surroundings. The cafe is now also open for lunch as well.