Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Sensory treat

Transform into the lotus-eater that you never knew existed in you at Ista's all-day terrace restaurant Lido

PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.

TERRACE TEASERS It's not just about what you eat but where you eat it

The moment you step into this restaurant, you will realise you're not here just for the food. The place is as much a feast for the eyes and lungs as for the tongue. Lido, the restaurant, is on the fourth floor of Ista, the latest business hotel in town.

As you would have guessed, it's come in place of Lido theatre that really can get many a Bangalorean nostalgic over the disappearance of the city's grand old cinemas. But getting back to the fourth floor and moving on to things more cheerful, Lido is an all-day dining restaurant that opens out to a canopied portico, and further, an infinite pool and pool deck. A joyous plantation of banana, hibiscus and other shrubs nestles in between this panoramic view. So while you can still welcome the warm summer afternoon from the outside, you can blissfully settle in the shade. Or sit out for a dinner and take in the cool breeze.

An unusual spread

Lido lines up quite an unusual spread to include anything from the humble tomato soup to the pan-fried Kolkata bekti, fettuccini, smoked salmon on a pizza to a coconut macaroon pie with wild berry coulis! And that's just one day's menu, says executive chef Subroto Goswami. "We change the menu everyday so that guests get a wider variety. International guests can try out Indian food or stick to their own comfort food. That's the kind of range of dishes we offer."The idea is to keep the food healthy and fresh. Which means there's no buffet and you need to order a la carte.

We start with an asparagus soup that looks too healthy and green but explodes into a creamy and melt-in-the-mouth experience. It augurs well for the main course and dessert. It's a pureed soup and has enough fibre in it and small chunks of asparagus as well. "There is no cream added to the soup; just a small quantity of white sauce. People don't like cream in their soup these days," says Subroto, dismissing any cream-dreams one may have.

You can trip on some fresh salads, quiche or tikkas that span the exotic lotus stem with honey-chilli sauce or the legendary prawn cocktail or tangy achari chicken tikka.

Lido surprises you next with its offering of avial and paruppu adai — a mix and match of a bowlful of the vegetable-laden, yoghurt-coconut gravy from Kerala and the crunchy, spicy dosa from Tamil Nadu. The combination presents a filling and mild-spirited meal in itself for someone stopping over in between work.

"Generally one is made to believe that Indian food is spicy and all about chilli. It's not. Just that people who don't know how to cook overdo the garam masalas and spices," says Subroto, who takes pride in the fact that their food is mellow and wholesome. Ista, incidentally, is the first business hotel of the group that owns the famed Ananda Spa in the Himalayas.

A hearty, homey mouthful is what the valakkai erussery offers — raw bananas cooked with green gram in a light gravy of coconut and green chillies and served with steamed rice.

A choice of pizzas comes with vegetarian and non-vegetarian toppings. There is also an array of sandwiches and burgers made with multigrain breads, sour dough buns and smeared with hummus and filled with your choice of stuffing.

For the main course there is an array of Italian pastas and lasagne and I can vouch for the emblematic tricolour tortelli (ravioli) served with a mushroom cream sauce. It's for those who lust after cheese. The filling of sun-dried tomatoes (dried by the restaurant itself) and parmesan cheese adds an amazing flavour to the olive oil-soaked dish. "We don't use artificial colours so the orange colour of the tortelli comes from carrot puree and the green from spinach," smiles Subroto.

Non-vegetarians can choose from a host of lamb, chicken, pomfret, ham curried dishes or stick to a perennial favourite — fish 'n' chips.

Indian section

The Indian selection offers tawa masala prawns, kala maans, and for vegetarians there is aloo-baingan ka masala, and kebabs. And no robust fare for a rice lover is complete without a fragrant saffron-tinted dum-cooked biryani.

After a lazy and long satiating lunch, it won't hurt if you tuck in some warm mango tart, sugar-free tiramisu or just scoops of coffee, mango, red wine fig ice-creams.

Lido is a tad pricey but who's looking at that side of the menu-card anyway these days?

Ista is at 1/1, Swami Vivekananda Road, Ulsoor (keep in mind the one-way). For reservations, call 25558888.

Ambience: Sunny and airy

Service: Courteous but slow

Specialty: Comfortable choice

Wallet factor: Approximately

Rs. 3,000 for two (excluding drinks)

BHUMIKA K.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail