BENGALURU: Love fine dining? Or just a big food junkie? There’s something for everyone at this “Gourmet Safari” experience at VR Bengaluru.
Curated by Karen Anand, the safari takes you through five courses spread across five restaurants in a food tour. The cocktails and amuse-bouche were served at Alt, an open-air rooftop lounge bar located at Sky deck. The place is big on ambience and makes the most of the beautiful city weather that allows for cool breeze under a moonlit sky.
The spring roll on the vegetarian Meiterannean Mezze Platter is crisp on the outside with flavours of grated tofu, beans sprout, charred chilli and garlic.
On the non vegetarian side was the Han Ping, with a delicious garlic and chilli flavoured chicken served in a pappad basket. Quite an interesting combination.
The foodies’ ensemble then moves to Salt, where we were served starters. The Ajmeer Paneer is a peculiar combination and will impress paneer lovers. One thing that stood out with the Salt’s presentation was the Tandoori Malai Broccoli.
Adopting broccoli to play centrestage isn’t an every day affair. I really enjoyed the Bharwan Mushroom too with its spicy coating. On the non-vegetarian side, the Lamb Galouti Kebab was minced really well and was smooth as it could get.
The Saffron Chicken Malai Tikka is a must have if you happen to be at Salt. The restaurant served food with Pineapple Blast mocktail, which has the fruit juice with chunks as bites and foam on top. It also has blueberry.
Following this serve, we moved towards main course at Toscano, where we were served one of the best pastas I have had -- Pasta Aifunghi Misti. It had homemade fetuccine, mixed with mushroom butter sauce and truffle oil.
As an ardent pasta fan, I was beyond impressed with its raw flavours and the combination of ingredients and oil. Gracias Toscano for this one! Also, if you are here, do not forget to ask for some white wine, they have some of the best ones.
The non-vegetarian menu had Menzo e funghi in balsamico that comprised grilled tenderloin and portabella mushrooms in balsamic served with saffron flavoured asparagus risotto and rocket salad.
When a few of guests were hesitant over having beef, the staff at Toscano readily obliged and presented an alternation with chicken. And if that gesture wasn’t enough, soon we had Bob, the butler -- a robot serving us dinner. The robot was built by a group of four students.
Following the impressive, we moved to The Whitefield Arms. I have been to the place before and had fallen in love instantly and was hence really looking forward to ending my food journey with desserts here. Karen too had confessed to loving the cheese cake at the place and that only got my excitement pumping. We were served the Classic Carrot Cake and Chocolate Sin.
The carrot cake had a cream cheese glaze that goes well with the sweetness of the cake, however, it did become a bit too creamy for my taste.
The delightful Chocolate sin made my night. It is a chocolate fudge cake that sits on a slightly bitter side. It is topped with a dark chocolate ganache.
The safari ends with a filter coffee served in copper glasses.
The next Gourmet Safari will be hosted on April 16, the last day of VR foodies fest.