If I were given a choice to get – Around the world in 18 bowls or around the world in 80 days, I would choose both because I am equally passionate about food as well as travel.
Well I was happy to get invited to the former (and maybe someday there will be the latter 
) and I had a lovely lunch at the Oberoi Bengaluru at their their Soup and Salad festival – Around the World in 18 Bowls.
The warm soups are perfect to deal with this January, which has stayed chilly even towards its end and the salads are pure extravaganza with their exotic ingredients and finger licking dressings.
They have 4 veg and 4 non veg soups (yes they are fair like that ) and one can have unlimited portions of whatever one wants.
While everything seemed worthy of being tasted, we could manage to try out the Corn and crab Manhattan style golden corn chowder with soft shell crab, the Braised lambs, barley and goat cheese and the Beaten smoked pork and fennel broth with Chorizo fritters. The latter two were outstanding.
The veg soups were given a pass but only because we were so full. I must say that the Hungarian style mushroom soup with black rice and sour cream and the Strawberry and white balsamic gazpacho with lime and black pepper sorbet, sounded most tempting and could very well be an excuse to go there again.
The salads are a DIY process and one could go quite crazy trying to mix and match from the array of greens, fruit, olives, capers, peppers, cheese, beet soaked octopus, a range of cold cuts, bacon dust and aged eggs, to name just a few.
And of course some of the dressings like bacon fat mayonnaise created quite a flutter of excitement at the pure non veg table
I quite loved the vegan misu with coconut cream which coated my salad of choice – which was a mix of all my favorite ingredients including the reddened octopus (which quite defeated the vegan angle but then I am an all eatarian … so there) 😀
The chef made us an excellent salad with an avocado shell nestling on a bed of salad greens and filled with a creamy blend of avocado pulp and burrata cheese with a charred top. Well this one we actually fought over
And yes there were various cooked Millets for the millet conscious and that was how they lured me in the first place Not that I needed luring to the Oberoi, which is one of my favorite dining options !!!
The steal of a deal also includes a small selection of desserts and the toasted coconut kheer was quite a delight.
The festival is on till Jan 31st, Mon to Sat at lunch time at the Le Jardin and is priced at an attractive Rs 1300 plus tax.
If you are a salad and soup enthusiast, then you should definitely not miss this one.
For more pictures see My Facebook – The Oberoi Bengaluru – Soups and Salads
Jan 23rd, 2018
