BENGALURU: Do you like rum? There’s plenty of it at Three Dots and a Dash and they make reasonably good, dressed-up cocktails too.The ambience on the rooftop is cosy with dim lighting, warm bamboo wall panels and low-seating, perfect for an evening with friends, though there is a cheery office farewell happening at the next table. Everyone seems to be having a good time and it must have to do with the smiling waiters.
We are served Caribbean Cooler and Beach Bum in cocktails. The first comes in a tender coconut shell and has vodka, Caribbean rum, tender coconut water, pineapple juice and blue curacao liquer. This is mild with a distant note of the rum and its sweetness balances out with the sharpness of pineapple and the liquer. Beach Bum has a too eager-to-please sweetness -- there are candied pieces of fruit, Grenadine syrup, vodka and seltzer water. We mention our disappointment with the syrupyness of Beach Bum to the waiter and are served Dead Reckoning as a comeback.
The Reckoning is generous with the alcohol – white rum and wine – and tops it with spice syrup and vanilla syrup. Rum is the top note in this; and the cocktail comes second to the Caribbean Cooler for the balancing of flavours.
All the drinks are presented well, with the lighting bringing out the colours in the fruits and flowers trimming the drinks.
In food, we are served Lemon Coriander Soup (Chicken) first. This is mildly flavoured with lemon and coriander, and would have been perfect if the chef had gone easy with the salt. It is not cringingly salty but enough to hijack the soup.
In starters, there are Vegetable Croquettes, Green Chicken Kabab and Polynesian baked fish. The first starter is essentially a mild mash of potatoes with chillies, the second is well-cooked chicken which is short of juicy and, the third is the best, spiced with fresh red chilli paste and raw onion.
Sauces on the side are mayo-based with interesting variations – with braised beetroot, paprika, mint and wasabi. The last mayo-dip stands out with its sharp flavour, the rest tastes like regular mayo with flavours as a passing shadow.
Then comes the vegetable and chicken dumplings, which are thick-skinned and doughy, with well-cooked insides. On the scale of five, it could be a three. The dip with chilli, salt, ginger and groundnut goes well with it.
For the mains, we try Hungarian Paprika Chicken. The meat is cooked in spicy paprika and served with rice and baked potato, served with onion, dried chilli and olives. The next is Vegetable Tangine with Cous Cous; the cous cous is perfectly cooked with a bite but the veggies taste a bit soggy with an
overwhelming taste of turmeric and coriander.
The dessert is Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream, topped with a cherry and basil. The brownie is crunchy and you can taste the lightly roasted walnut, the ice cream is creamy with the right sweetness. Overall, good.Go here for the well-presented drinks, the ambience and service. If you have good company, the food should be fine too.
Cost for two: Rs 2,000
Where: Three Dots and a Dash, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar