Oval Lounge Bar

Critic´s Review

• Food: 3 / 5
• Service: 2.5 / 5
• Decor: 2.5 / 5

-By Salmoli Mukerji

Today, the essence of restaurant comfort comes in many flavours. With changing times and tastes, it is the ambience & location, which is getting priority over the flavours of the palate. A picturesque curvature of the glass façade creates that novelty to this posh IT address, a restaurant called Oval, truly after its shape and features.

Decor

The spacious interiors create a cosmopolitan feel, adding to the lounging comfort in slate grey, shimmery chocolate and a vanilla colour palate. A longish wine cabinet showcasing new world wines from Chile, Australia, Spain, Italy, France and more sets the mood at the entrance. The seating is a mix of cushy sofas and upholstered chairs with dark stone top tables. The glass façade is equally intriguing from the inside overlooking the Rajarhat township through gauzy sheer curtains and bordered by a pebbled skirting. The bare ceiling messy look with pipelines and ac ducts showing, borrowed from many a western underground nightclub concept balances the suave and the grunge. The backdrop is the high wall mounted bar at the far end of the restaurant, where the display bottles catch the rays of the sinking sun and flushes enough drama into the space.

Food

The pep up loud music, tablet menu and modern smallish crockery tries to emulate contemporary fine dining standards. The menu is an Indian, Oriental and Continental mix. A bit of a hotchpotch presentation of selections make it rather difficult and time consuming. There is a concise festive menu running at the restaurant, with less of a selection, but “fat festive” price tags. We decide to go with the flow - Thai Chicken Tom Yum Soup (Rs.145), Veg Lemon Coriander Soup (Rs. 110), Crispy Chilli Potatoes (Rs. 115), Sarson Wali Macchi (Rs. 285). The soups, though distinctly different, are both mild for our palate and the Chinese style potatoes not crispy enough. The fish, though with no hint of mustard, is a pleasant surprise with smoky crispness of the whole Pomfret marinated in Tandoori masala.

Plus & Minus

Next come the 3 Idiots (Rs. 360), biscuit crumb fried prawns, Kolkata beckti and chicken breasts - local style, the indigenous Chelo Kebab (Rs.299), lamb and chicken kebabs with herbed rice and a fried egg, Mixed American Chopsuey (Rs. 175) and Chilli Chicken Oval style (Rs. 215). The crumb fries are a wee bit dry, the Chelo kebab needs attention and definitely deserves a better presentation, the mixed Chopsuey more Chinese than American, but the house chilli chicken is nice soya fried and spongy. Desserts have various options of ice creams. Going by the popularity, ovbiously, the ambience and the flowing bar attract the young chatteratti to enhance the right flavours, rather than the menu.

Must Try

Chelo Kebab, Chicken Steak in Sizzler, Oval NonVeg and Veg Platter