Bisi Bengaluru: I'm OKI, you're OKI

This affable neighbourhood chic canteen offers residents in surrounding areas wholesome fresh and subtle Asian and Continental. We started with a Bangkok style raw papaya salad, which was crunchy, with Granny Smith slivers, garlic and a chilli hit — wow! We would have liked it chilled, perhaps less sweet.

The dimsums (a mix) were dreamy, steamed, with a freshly ground black bean and chilli sauce … the fish dimsum was stale though, and we would have liked a pork option. The meat was juicy, flavoured.

The baos were interesting… the Taiwanese Gua Bao pulled duck was soft, spongy and with a sweetish sauce was a profusion of fresh crunch and peanutty too. Slobbered yum.

We ordered goat's cheese salad, and it came with a flurry of fresh green lettuce, and no iceberg, thankfully as most salads go overboard with it. The honey mustard dressing with almonds was tangy and sweet with dried cranberries. It came together wonderfully. We wanted sushi, but sadly, it was not available. The Korean Bibimbap with succulent and deliciously marinated grilled lamb with zucchini, pickled cucumber, carrot, kimchi, spring onion and spinach with fluffed up white rice was good, healthy and wholesome. We added extra chilli to gobble the sunny side up egg with a profusion of flavours. The Laotian Pork with beans and bamboo shoot was subtly peppered, richly textured, with pork cooked perfectly. The crunch of beans with rice, pork and spice and a semi-gravy we delicious. We didn’t spot bamboo shoots, though.

The last on our table was the Thai-inspired Khao suey — our favourite, in a tangy creamy more lemon grass, less coconutty soup. The add-ons were great and so was the whole coming together of this meal that you can customise. The chicken pieces could have been smaller. We didn’t get egg and sprout sprinkles that Khao Suey fans expect… but the flavours were Thai-inclined and unique.

For dessert, it was the deconstructed cheese cake, which was creamy and good. The deconstruction, we personally didn’t care for. It could have been crumblier rather than the big biscuit chunks… The apple pie roll was interesting, a unique idea. Given the price factor and abundance of freshness and singular tastes, this is a must-do when in the neighbourhood. The price is also easy on the pocket and the chef and partners have their hearts in the right place. Small surprises, beautifully packaged, the canteen route just got a whole lot better!

Meal for two: Rs1,000 onwards
Must-haves: He chef recommends the Pink Vietnamese summer rolls, Laotian pork, Cambodian fish, Goat cheese salad, dimsums, raw papaya salad, and the apple pie roll.
address:  #403, Mariappa Road, Off Kammanahalli Main Road

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The duo and their oriental express of small plates
When two young entrepreneurial minds come together to give the city a place to gorge on two cuisines, in not fusion, thankfully, but unique innovative portions for different palates, you are undoubtedly curious. We were. And pleasantly surprised.

 Oki’s head chef and partner Surajit Ghara who was at Republic of Noodles and Chefkraft, and Vishal Kumar Prasad, who has a Continental restaurant in Jayanagar, and a cloud kitchen Runaway Chef, tread the simplistic Asian taste trail with interesting European fare for families who might want to the best of both. The small, red-and-brown toned, wooden benched restaurant opened in June. An Asian and European Eating House in Kamanahalli’s bustling streets, it is a breath of freshness in food, fare and plating, taste — a simple chic canteen with benches, dressed in red, with a unique menu, lots of small eats, so no one can eat just one! 

Head chef Ghara comes with years of experience at Radisson Blu Goa’s Sake, and at Republic of Noodles till he decided to give his dream of entrepreneurship a chance. “After 10 years in the industry, I wanted something unique. I observe people’s ways of travelling and how they seek food, so Oki was born. Our menu has 75% Asian and 25% innovative European. Also I didn’t want money to be a criteria but fresh good food. Vishal and I think alike, in that sense. Our small eats are gems, with plated portions and hearty meal plates,” he says.

The name, Vishal explains, is an abbreviated take on Oriental Kitchen- Oki. “We do both cuisines as with families, children are typically not used to such strong Asian flavours. We offer European pizzas, salads and pastas,” says the partner of this 62-seater simple hub who is a Continental chef himself.

A city-wide chain is the plan, once things here are running smoothly. The idea of small plates and innovative Asian and European gives impetus to that very Indian concept of orderings lots!