Viva Cafe & Bar

Rating: 2

We ate dinner here in May 2021.

Lamb moussaka with salad, rice, and Turkish bread
Chicken breast stuffed with mushroom, topped with béchamel sauce with salad, rice, and Turkish bread

We’ll start with the things that we could agree on. It was odd that both meals, although they appeared different in the menu, were almost identical. Two thirds of each plate was exactly the same. The rice was nice. And overall, the joint was a bit cold, with a nearby door letting in frequent icy blasts. We were divided on the rest.

Review 1: When it first came over, I had a strong whiff of French toast. I’ve never had that before when someone brought over my evening meal, and I really thought someone nearby was having breakfast for dinner. The sauce was the source of the odour. For some reason the béchamel was unnaturally sweet and nutmeg-ey. On top of ruining the chicken, I was displeased to find that the sauce had contaminated other elements of the meal. The salad itself was acceptable, classic, Turkish style salad, like what I’d expect to get with an iskender. While not offensive in and of itself, it was bizarre to combine with the stuffed chicken breast. I don’t have such a strong opinion about the moussaka. The lamb was fine, however the veggies were an indistinguishable mush.

Review 2: I thought the chicken was an unusual thing to pair with your classic Turkish salads. Particularly incongruous was the raw cucumber next to a hot stuffed chicken breast. However once the cucumber and tomato were out of the way, the salad turned out to be great. The chicken breast was pretty nice, and the sauce really didn’t deserve to get ripped a new one like it just did in the other review. The salad and co. paired very well with the moussaka which was absolutely delicious. It was savoury and hearty, and was just what the doctor ordered on a chilly night. Honestly I could have eaten that moussaka all over again as soon as I’d finished.