Oye Amritsar >> “Oye Oye de Balle Balle!”
It’s rare for Indians not have a taste for Punjabi food… but good Punjabi food is quite rare as every cook jumped on to create his / her own Punjabi food versions and varieties. And our craving for the pure Punjabi one continued… ‘Oye, ki kariye’… ‘Sanu chakk de phatte’!!
Well, the fun is back in the city with ‘OYE Amritsar’ – the roof top dhaba. The witty, wild and tongue-teaser name joins the rest of the foodies clubs. With loudspeakers, lanterns, lurid filmi posters and asli Punjabi songs… oh, they do serve the food too!
Credit goes to Priyabala’s write-up in TOI-Friday that triggered our taste buds when it comes to ‘gurda-kapoora’, ‘makki-di-roti’, and ‘sarson-da-saag’. Yes, indeed it was worth it’s every penny.
I called 080-41122866 and was suggested to book the table as it was a weekend. I promptly did so and asked for valet parking; the only thing I worry nowadays going around MG Road eateries. I proved to be right as going via MG road to Church Street was tough as the roads were flooded with vehicles from Double Road as a huge tree collapse blocked the road. And you can imagine taking 45 minutes for a distance of 1.5 kms from Trinity Circle to Church Street was a frustrating experience – we did it for ‘Oye’!
The fun starts when you reach the place and check out the atmosphere, the walls, the roof, the lights the speaker (bhopus), even the menu is worth a read to it’s last word. The service counters do have some path breaking announcements.
The service is prompt and sets your expectations upfront when you ask the ‘oddies from the menu’ for a 15-20 minutes wait while you chew some mango bars and other goodies.
We came to the point and ordered the ‘sardo-da-saag’ and ‘makki-di-roti’, ‘aalo / paneer kulchas’, the great ‘gurda kapoora’, ‘tari wali wadiyan’ was to top it up with huge glass of lassi, that redefines ‘lassi’ for the Bangaloreans.
The table welcomes you with all steel cutlery a typical dhaba style green chutney with fresh onions and a special mango chocky (mini candy/toffee or whatever) to settle down and laugh.
The menu is a piece of art that divides the range in different sections with a theme that goes well with the ‘OYE Amritsar’ style.
Food is great, not that spicy to fool innocent explorers that Punjabi food is always spicy. The chicken mania going out of the counters talk about the huge demand it has generated when it comes to ‘Oye’. The portions served are large and can surely feed two hungry adults.
It was good that I could click many snaps while we were waiting for the food to arrive else the aromatic foods spell could have deterred me sharing few ‘hotties’ served on the steel plate.
On being wise, we requested them to serve everything together and they did – the food was upto the expectation and was duly appreciated as we finished it at quick speed.
The ‘tari wali wadiyan’ was great and tastes real great with soft rotis; they did not serve us achar which makes a real Punjabi meal, but I guess they were too busy making chutneys and masalas inside.
The fun continued till we shared a ‘glass’ of lassi – here the glass is a huge steel tumbler, I mean compared to those 180ml kiddos, this was huge and measured 350ml+ sweet lassi (surprisingly moderate sweet and not that sweetness that puts you off after few sips). This one was just perfect. In fact, I would like to visit them again just to have a lassi standing out of the busy place, which come with a thick malai and few dry fruits to catch your eyes and tongue while you eat. Yes, you have to eat this lassi and not try drink it!
The paan-bhandar is prompt to take our orders as we finish… the ‘maghai’ and ‘Kolkata paan’ served did override our way of summing the great experience.. Being honest, I read the menu again and hope to revisit after a while to relish the desserts from the menu!
‘Oye, ki kariye’… ‘Sanu chakk de phatte’!!
Oye Amritsar,
4th Floor (above Saigaon)
20, Church Street, Bangalore 560 001
Tel 080-41122866.
(valet parking available)
Cost: Around Rs.300 per adult (without alcohol)
Awesome! Lets all meet up here next time, Rajesh!
I am game!!
Boss, mooh mein paani aa gaya sirf photos dekh kar.
The ambience is so typical of pure punjabi dhabas, incorrect english and all which is obviously on purpose over here, and feels so good.
BANGALORE CALLING !!! lagta hai jaldi ek visit karna padega.
Very nice post Rajesh. The place looks like an experience.
Thanks Dharmesh, Lokesh.
Nice post Rajesh.. Will try this place..
now, this is my kind of place. love it. do they only serve beer?
Excellent write up and pics Rajesh! My mouth is watering…please, please, please, don’t meet up again when I am out of town..I want to be present for this!
Nice Restaurant/dhabba , Nice menu, Nice food/pics , Nice writeup.
Period. !!
Good review & great pics. I hope the taste is better than “The Dhaba”. Rajesh, cover Bhartiyam at HSR Layout BDA complex too. As with most restaurants in the city, it takes only 6 months to become ordinary from excellent. Bhartiyam & Chilli Pepper (Marathalli) are going that way.
nice comprehensive review with excellent snaps.
Check out http://www.needgrub.com, your inputs about good restaraunts can be shared to the other foodies in bangalore and other cities.. check out http://www.needgrub.com – its a restaurant review website for India.
Thanks Sumesh.
Radman, the menu picture tells us that they do have brandy, vodka and breezers on the top page, haven’t checked the other items in the bar menu.
Deepa> sure, we can visit again…
Sandeep> Thanks.
Raghu> will checkout Bhartiyam and Chilli pepper too..Thx
Shande, thanks.
NEEDGRUB, good site, btw you should have lots of pictures in there too. I personally get put off if i see a restaurent review without pictures.
Great review and photos, Rajesh! Will definitely visit.
A question on one of the observations: does anybody have an idea why the quality of the food of most restaurants goes down after some time?
ANTON,
#1 is demand-supply gap. These guys aren’t “langar” experts and can’t manage overwhelming response.
#2 is demand-supply gap. Once they get rolling, they no longer need exceptional food to attract “hujooms”.
#3 is lack of experience. It takes some time to work out the economics. Most often they see cost overruns mainly due to rising rentals & wages. They compromise on quality, rather than printing new menu with revised costs.
#4 they are there not out of passion but to earn money. They give in to crowd pleasing. So you have
curd rice, pasta, noodles & sarson-da-saag under the same roof.
GREAT PLACE, NEXT TIME AAKHI KOMBADI !!!.
RAGHU,
Excellent analysis! You are probably right on all the points, and all the changes are because of one or combination of these reasons!
Thanks!
Wow, such fantastic photos and write up I am really feeling hungry here in Mumbai. The lassi is what I need. Alas no pictures but the menu for my favourite…. the desserts. Yum. Will enjoy a meal there when we come next… with u all. Yes I recognised the dishes!
Thanks Indira…anytime!!
I wonder why every restaurant wants to setup shop in these busy areas. MG Road, Church street etc.
Getting to these places is a nightmare from anywhere in the city (except if you are already there ofcourse)
The cost of the high rentals in these areas will obviously be priced into the menu.
Eating out should be a pleasant experience and it begins with trying to get there.