Bloggers Table - Barbeque Friday, Alila Bangalore Hotel

Alila Bangalore hosted a barbeque last week and we were invited as part of the Chef At Large Bloggers Table.  Normally invites make my kids envious, but this was one was with family, so they were excited at the prospect of attending one of them.

We braved our way through the Friday evening traffic, one long drive it was to Whitefield, a test of patience really! Tummies rumbling , ravenous, we reached Alila.  The appetite whetting aroma of the barbeque wafting down the long corridor led us where we wanted to go. Spotted familiar faces at the table in the corner next to the bar, cameras and all.  Whoever said its tough to spot a food blogger, much less a bunch on them ...at work!

My daughter wanted something to eat and not drink, but the pretty pink Raspberry drink charmed her. Sweet and slightly tart, more appealing to a kid naturally.  My son's ginger ale was appreciated, playing on the IPad with Neha's son's seemed to make it even more enjoyable!

We made a beeline to the barbeque, with separate counters and grills for the appetizers, salads and desserts. Not  particularly impressive were the  Maple Glazed Potatoes and the Pommes Persilles. The  Parprika  smoked Vegetable Brochettes were just barely seasoned almost raw vegetables – bah!!  Even the extra sprinkling of paprika we asked for did nothing to revive them.

Char Grill Corn on The Cob was really tender corn with minimal seasoning, but still good! I later realized that I entirely missed going back to taste the Grilled Summer Squash and Marinated beetroot.  And oh, how did I miss the salads?  Having kids around you kind of does it to you I guess. Have made a mental note to make it a point to at least a bite of each dish next time on a review. 

At the Tandoori station, I had a generous second helping of the Tandoori Phool, grilled cauliflower in a very flavorful marinade. Tulsi Paneer Tikka was very soft paneer but sadly not a good enough marinade to do justice to it. Grilled Tomatoes were so so, the garlic mayonnaise quite nice. I enjoyed every spoon of Vegetable Maklouba Rice, subtle yet truly aromatic and scrumptious!  Achari anything normally is not something I relish, but the Achari Tandoori Aloo was delicious indeed! The pitas were OK-ish, but then I must admit I like bread only when it is really fresh.

Not withstanding the fairly cool evening, it got uncomfortably hot without air conditioning.  The best of food doesn’t get its due if its actually uncomfortable to sit down while you eat.

The much awaited desserts were a great disappointment . I love malpua and was really looking forward to eating Mango Malpua. It was quite hard to the bite, though the taste was not bad, though we could not taste the mango in it.  I don't enjoy  grilled bananas so I gave it a skip.  The children enjoyed the grilled cupcakes with sauce and ice cream. The Barbequed Fruit Brochettes and assorted ice creams were the other desserts on the menu.  I find it disappointing in the extreme when places like this serve ice cream of very mediocre quality. Can we have these better please! 

To sum up, I can say I enjoyed a handful of the dishes, though there were lots more which left a lot to be desired.  Fellow bloggers who tasted the non-vegetarian fare seemed to have enjoyed their food, at least most of it. The dessert menu in particular could be a lot more innovative and better.  Last but not the least, air conditioning please, lest you want food to be wolfed down in a hurry to rush out for some air!

Thanks Alila for having us over!