It’s a feast for kings – or something of the sort. When 16 fine dine restaurants come together to feature their signatures in style, the occasion calls for celebration. Food Lovers Dine For Good offers two and three-course menus by 16 chefs who have revisited their signature dishes. On till March 26, proceeds from this home-grown food festival will be donated towards a social cause.
There’s plenty to choose from, 11 cuisines to be exact, including Italian, Persian, Indian, Mediterranean, Chinese, etc. While the Food Lovers Dine for Food menu runs for dinner only, visitors can choose four to six items . It’s the pricing that will make foodies jump for joy – it ranges between Rs 699 and Rs 1,399 per person for a three course meal.
You can make you reservations at https://www.foodlovers.in/events/food-lovers-dine-good-bangalore-2017/ on the Food Lovers website.
Kripal Amanna, publisher and managing editor, Food Lovers, the man who is behind this Ooru-made dine festival says, “The whole experience has been extremely satisfying from a restaurant’s, diner’s and charitable perspective. With menus, chefs and signature dishes showcased; the best dishes are all laid out on one attractively-priced menu. The menu runs for 10 days creating mind space and awareness.
Each menu has been carefully curated by the restaurant to include the dishes for which they are best-known. And each charitable organisation has a special mention on the menu. Vikas Seth, culinary director, Sanchez tells the Mexican loving foodie to try “The Fiesta Nachos and beer-battered Fish Taquitos. Many diners love them as we serve blue corn nachos along with the yellow corn variety, and several toppings like refried beans, chipotle, olives, pico de gallo, sliced jalapenos and guacamole. Non-vegetarians also enjoy the Fish Taquitos, which are served with chipotle and guacamole. Tres Leches, a home-style milk-based cake, is one of our most popular desserts.” We have tried the Tres Leches, and vouch for it! Creamy, delicious – a must-have!
For Seth, the opportunity for a sit-down two-course or three-course meal featuring signature dishes is something that people really appreciate and he also feels the charitable angle helps, “Real food enthusiasts along with those who want to dine to support a noble cause come to these events.”
Deepak Rana, sous chef, The Salt Grill, Hilton Bangalore, he asks the foodie to try the Duck Confit and the Spiced Grape Tea, an unusual but comforting combination of chamomile tea, grapes and pepper. Or the Himalayan Salt Chicken where only corn-fed chicken is used and served with olive mash, grilled vegetables and red wine jus.
“For Food Lovers Dine for Good, we have added wine suggestions for dishes and a variation in breads like sourdough bread with palm butter,” says Rana.
Umerkot, known for its rich traditional Awadh recipes offers a slew of must haves. Sanjay Tyagi, chef and director, Umerkot, says, “Signature Umerkot dishes such as Murgh ki Chaanp and Malai Broccoli are most popular apart from Teekhi Machhi Tawe Wali where fish is marinated in chilli and tamarind, and Lahori Paneer, a dish of paneer stuffed with vegetables and cheese, rolled, and then cooked in a clay oven.’’
The plethora of dishes and attractive-prices, he feels are the two main reasons for the festival’s popularity. Besides, a platform that brings the city’s top chefs and restaurants is rare, Tyagi feels. Rarely do signatures come together in a course meal that emits a 'yippie', like this one does.
Food Lovers Dine for Good
Pricing: Rs 699 to Rs 1399
Reservations: Book online at https://www.foodlovers.in/events/food-lovers-dine-good-bangalore-2017/ on the Food Lovers website.
On till: March 26
Very, very, very average!
We went a la carte beneath the stars at Lalit Ashok to do justice to Oko's Pan Asian menu in its entirety. The Tom Yum Goong came first, piping hot, tangy, spiced and too sweet. The hue of lemongrass was welcome, but the prawns were overdone. The salmon sushi, small set, was very, average — more salmon, less seawee, please! It was too chewy and even the wasabi was toned down.
From the dine-out menu, we chose the Xiao Mai with a spicey black bean sauce, which was good, albeit quite the mouthful, with tender bits of subtly-flavoured chicken. The LWA Shrimp Tempura came with a delicious sesame flavour, but was bland.
For mains, we opted for a Hakka noodles and Kai Khrap Phao, stir-fried with hot basil and chilli. We were taken aback at the below average taste and flavours. The noodles were ok, but lacked the overall goodness and standing one associates with a five star hotel… and the chickenm though tender, was a messy mixture of sautéed basil and chilli. No singular flavours jumped out. Very disappointing.
The Wuxiang Yang Rou, a wok-tossed lamb with garlic and soy, had tender bits of lamb, but again, no spectacular flavours leapt out… cooked in lamb stock but below average. We hope that the rest of the fare is better, as one expects more from the signature dishes, that too from a restaurant of Oko's standing.
Things continued going downhill even after dessert arrived. Bitter chocolate with sweet shiitake mushrooms would have been a great idea if the chocolate hadn't been so watered down. Still, we liked the play of the shiitake on our palate. Very interesting.
The Tub Tim Grop, a Thai coconut-milk based specialty was cool , refreshing and delicious. Here again, the water chestnuts weren't upto par - they were goopy, not firm and covered with a film of something slimey. The coconut-jaggery stuffing in the steamed pandan coconut rice dumplings was delicious, but the dumpling itself was tasteless.
The staff was courteous and hospitable, but something was amiss. We ordered wine that was poured out into glasses before it was served, for instance. The restaurant needs to take a good look at what specs are offered, or considering a total rehashing of the menu. We're rarely left feeling so disappointed; let's hope for a change for the better.
