First published in Bangalore Mirror (That headline! It wasn’t me)
The name Riverside, in Whitefield, might bring to mind visions of a frothy water body that’s infamous in the area, but thankfully the restaurant’s ambiance does a great job of helping us tide over it. The canoe near the entrance, the superb lighting, and a very enticing bar are some of the highlights of a décor job well done. Unfortunately the section upstairs wasn’t open for service, but our outdoor seating – with the bar on one side, and more standard liquid (water) flowing on the other – was quite pleasant. The other element worth a mention is the music. It was quite the ‘mixtape’ of 80s and 90s. From Lionel Richie to MLTR and “Nothing’s gonna change my love for you” to “How Bizarre”, it was quite a trip.
In keeping with the name, the menu does have a lot of focus on aquatic food. Add to this multiple cuisines – Coastal, North Indian, Chinese and Continental – and you have a menu that travels really far, and across a lot of pages. The predictable problem with that though, is the unavailability of dishes. The good news is that, thanks to the elaborate menu, there’s still quite a lot of choice.
Our cocktail jinx continued as two out of the four drinks we ordered were declared unavailable. We finally ended up with a mix of standard stuff and house specials. The Pina Colada just about passed muster. The Cuba Libre was for some reason given a star sign, and called Cuba Libra! The drink itself is just rum, cola and lime and depends on the alcohol content and how well the lime is mixed for its success, but in this case, it failed on both counts. The mocktail we tried – Mid Summer Dream – had pineapple juice, rose syrup, mixed fruit and mint leaves. A tad sweeter than it should have been, but it was quite refreshing. Though the name reminded me of a facial, the winning drink was Golden Glow. Despite whiskey, rum, and orange juice, the grenadine syrup hijacked it in terms of colour. We wondered how the drink could be named so despite the pinkish hue. The answer was on my friend’s face after he finished the drink. There was quite a glow, largely thanks to the drink’s potency.
From the unending starter menu, we asked for an interesting sounding Bhopali Sheekh Kabab, but that was unavailable. The Squids Koliwada, which was our replacement choice, was fantastic! Fried just right, and with the perfect amount of spicy flavour, this was a winner. So was the Paneer Lahori, with its red masala and superbly cooked cottage cheese.
The Konkan Fish Tikka, though similar in looks to the Paneer, was a different masala altogether. The mild spice and well cooked fish ensured we had no complaints with this one either. Our mild disappointment came in the form of the Crispy Thread Chicken. It wasn’t a bad dish, and had a nice tang to it, but the ratio of ‘thread’ to chicken was skewed.
The Chicken Neer Dosa was our first choice, and didn’t disappoint. The Neer Dosa was light and superbly made, and worked really well with the coconut based classic Mangalorean Chicken Curry. The Veg Gassi had a dark brown colour altogether different from the versions I have seen thus far, and also differed in taste, but thankfully, it had a bunch of flavours that made it a success. The Karavali Pomfret was completely unlike every other dish. Since it mentioned a thick coconut extract, its green colour was quite a surprise. The look and taste reminded me a lot of Cafreal. Quite spicy, it made a neat pairing with steamed rice. Un-represented thus far, the Continental section of the menu was glaring at us. The Fusilli Con Calamaretti sounded intriguing, and lived up to our faith. Tomato and red chilli sauce, with splendidly cooked squid, this was another winner.
A welcome respite from the pub menus, there were almost twenty desserts to choose from! But true to character, the first two we asked for were unavailable. The Tiramisu saved the day by being its usual wonderful self. Absolute disaster arrived in a combination of white and fluorescent green colours. It was named Kiwi Souffle, and it had the soul and taste of cough syrup! The kind of stuff that reminded me of the water body I had mentioned in the beginning, and could trigger a #SaveWhitefield campaign all on its own!
A couple of cocktails, a couple of non veg starters, two main course dishes and a dessert would cost you around Rs.2200, inclusive of taxes. The crowd was proof that the place has got Whitefield’s attention. Most of the food we had was excellent. The one thing that needs to be fixed is the availability of dishes. The pricing is on the higher side, but justifiable to some extent, courtesy the ambiance. All things considered, Riverside’s value proposition does hold water.
The Riverside Bar & Kitchen, 101 & 45, Whitefield Main Road, Ph: 8150040609 (map)