Food Blogger's Meet @ OKO, The LaLit Ashok, Bangalore

On the occasion of the second anniversary of The LaLit Ashok, a food blogger's meet had been organized at OKO - The rooftop Pan Asian restaurant @The LaLit Ashok, Bangalore. As most of us would be, I was initially a bit nervous about meeting a bunch of friends whom I was seeing for the first time. As it turned out, I was anxious for nothing! We all got along so well and it felt like we've known each other for a long while :) We talked about almost everything - Food, movies, television, our addiction to blogging and lots more.  Here is a picture of all of us

    

From L-R Suma of Cakes and More!!!, Shubhada of Shubhada's123 Blog, Madhuri of Cook-curry Nook, Yours truly!! and Geetha of The Fragrant Kitchen

With most of us bloggers being vegetarians, I was quite curious as to how the chef would bring us  some variety in the menu. We were served a sumptuous vegetarian four course meal with a choice of 3 starters, a soup, a salad, 2 choices for the mains and the dessert. The Chef did an excellent job with the starters. I picked Char Grilled Okra in Teriyaki Sauce and Tofu in Vietnamese Spices.And I remember sampling some Sushi as well... The marinated tofu was flavorful and had just the right amount of spices. But the grilled okra in the slightly sweet and tangy teriyaki sauce was my personal favorite!

The Thai Style coconut milk soup, Tom Kha Phak, was creamy, though not very thick, and had a fresh mild flavor of Thai spices. The  Yasai Salad with mayo dressing was good, but nothing exceptional that was worth mentioning. We were served Wok Tossed Noodles with Vegetables and Fried Rice for the main course, which were good. For desserts, we were served Sweet Azuki Bean Jelly and Five Spice Chocolate Pudding. The bean jelly failed to impress all that much....I thought it was sticky and a little too plain for me to carry back its taste. But the chocolate pudding was rich and delicious.

Pan Asian cuisine includes all the cuisines of Asia, and taste testing the fusion of all these flavors was a wonderful and interesting experience! Missed taking pictures of the dishes  'coz I forgot to take my camera along... my bad :(

If I had to rate various parameters at the OKO on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest, it would be:

Ambience- 4.5

Menu- 3.5 (Would have appreciated some more vegetarian options for the main course)

Taste- 4

Service - 4

Excellent ambience, good food and great company made it a memorable evening on the 20th of Nov 2010. Thanks to The LaLit Group for having us over. And thanks Tinky, of Perfect Relations, for bringing us all together! Oh, and did I mention the view?!? View of Bangalore City from the OKO is breathtaking!! Here are some pictures of the OKO. Would definitely visit again for the food, view and also the ambience!