Oye Amritsar

The city sends a cold January wind sweeping the aromas of spices. You dwell to be the traveller who’s not keen on arriving. But, the paradox of a rumbling tummy is too much to be left unattended. A destination is immediately chalked down. They kept up with the malignantly blinding lights of vehicles opposite, survived the silence of drenched lamp posts, ignored the melancholy of cinema hoardings, frisked away from the apologetic remains of an alley cat and finally arrived. The destination, Oye Amritsar!

The place did share the joyous glee in their eyes. It was a bright, colourful and the open air setting tried hard to impress them. It was done up to replicate an authentic Punjabi dhaba and everything from the menu card to the rest rooms screamed in revelry. But this is no ordinary dhaba at least the menu card implied the raucous cacophony. Fin & Pat were too busy scanning through the colourful assortment of non-living things that they were going to eat. This bored Bryan who immediately ordered for beer so as to liven things up. Bob & Sam broke into an argument over the quantity of starters and finally agreed on having 2 full plates of Lawrence Road De Tawa Tikke. Bryan nonchalantly went for another bottle of beer. Fin read the possibility of Pat breaking in to an eminent monologue and ordered Hara Masala Ke Bhuna Paneer (of course, how could they avoid the cow) for the herbies. Pat was smothered by Bryan’s beer drinking spree and ordered Lassi for the rest of the group. Bob in the meantime chartered to pick up a new habit as a New Year resolution. And after despicable discussions he decided to start smoking! Moving on, the main course was Butter Naans, Bhuna Dahiwala Kukkad & Murg Lahori for the carnivores. Pat & Fin had Lahori Dingari Kofta for gravy.

The food in general did not live up to the hype surrounding it. The Tawa Tikke was hard on the spices and cooked by someone who had no sense of taste. The Dingari Kofta was too soft and lacked the texture. It was tangy & sweet at the same time. Murg Lahori seemed like some sort of tomato soup with pieces of chicken mixed up. The paneer also turned out to be bland just like the flat beer Bryan had. The Naans & Kukkad did save the day as Sam happily helped himself with 13 servings. The disappointing fact was that the quantity of dishes was too meagre and did not substantiate the price. Memories of the expensive outing did fade away with the dying echoes of the last chime of the midnight hour. Oye Amritsar wasn’t that “oye” after all!

The Pseudo Sophisticated could not join them for the eventful outing. It seems he had a conversation with God and was miffed after realizing that God did not recognise him!

Venue – 54, 5th A Cross, Koramangala

Recommended – Bhuna Dahiwala Kukkad

Music – Bollywood songs

Variety - **

Quality - **

Value for money - *

Ambience - ***

Service - ***