Amogh Boutique Hotel, a part of Butta Hospitality, recently revamped its all-day dining restaurant. The traditional multi-cuisine buffet restaurant Leaves has made way for a more hip coffee shop called ‘Oh Bean Der’ (OBD). The new restaurant is punctuated with vibrant hues of red and yellow and has a quirky decor that works reasonably well for a cafe. However, the buffet counter, which the hotel is forced to retain for the in-house guests, sticks out like a sore thumb. Oh Bean Der refers to itself as a Global Cafe. The menu boasts of almost hundred choices picked from around the world. I was invited to OBD by their Digital Marketing team, along with a few other bloggers. The menu for the night was chosen by their Executive Chef, who wished to showcase some of the signature dishes.
We started off with a range of appetizers. The Veg Stick Kebab was notable for its presentation – a potato kebab presented like a lollypop along with a shot of pudina chutney and tangy tomato salsa. The Basil Cottage Cheese Tikka impressed due to the soft Paneer. The Orange and BBQ Glazed Chicken Wings was delicious, although the flavour of the Orange is rather subdued. The Garlic Chilly Pepper Prawns was the best of the lot – the prawns were fresh and had been perfectly cooked. The starters were followed in quick succession by the Mushroom Cappucino Soup and Pizzas. The soup packed a good flavour and the consistency was just like a cup of coffee. However, I’d have loved to see a thicker layer of froth on top. The thin crust pizzas came in two variants – Exotic Veggie Pizza and BBQ Hot Chicken Pizza. The Pizza base was good, and the toppings were also quite decent. However, the sauce was bit of a letdown. A better sauce, and a bit more generous amount of topping can do wonders for the Pizzas.
For the main course we were offered Mushroom Chicken Risotto and Prawn Green Curry from the international selection. The Risotto wasn’t al dente, but the overall taste and texture were good – creamy and buttery with a distinctive mushroom flavour. However, the kitchen had gone a bit overboard with the coarsely ground black peppers, which upset the delicate flavours of the dish. The Green Curry was served with regular rice, and not sticky rice. The Prawns were once again cooked wonderfully, but the curry was rather tame. Not enough coconut milk, not enough lemongrass, and barely any kaffir lime or galangal. The Indian main course dishes fared much better. The Lachhedar Butter Chicken was absolutely yum, while the Subz Miloni also gave no room for complaints. The Chicken Biryani was decent.
To finish things off, we were offered a dessert platter of Blueberry Cheesecake, Red Velvet Cake. Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream, and Chocolate Truffle Pastry. The Choco Truffle Pastry was my favourite – rich, gooey, and sinful. The Red Velvet Cake was good, but the cream cheese frosting was underwhelming. The Blueberry Cheesecake was humdrum – both the Blueberry Compote and the Cheesecake were surprisingly dull.
The dining experience at OBD was a bit of a mixed bag. While most dishes were good, there is room for improvement. If you are not a fussy eater and are in the vicinity, then OBD might not be a bad option. There was one large group dining on the evening of the blogger’s table, and they seemed elated with both the quality of food and service. However, none of the dishes wowed me or gave me reason to travel twenty kilometres to dine at the restaurant.
