What’s in a name? Well in this case, a quirky, whimsical look at a tipple trail with things upside down, (in your mind atleast). But after giving full marks to the name, Sotally Tober, the rest, unfortunately needs to be taken back to the drawing board to rework. Sotally Tober (the opposite of Totally Sober in case you haven’t got it) is the new pub grub space in “an already riddled with too many spaces” Koramangala, so one would think that if you were to open something, it should be right on the money, or at least aspire by new ideas. This grungy, a la Jackson Pollack-inspired space (without the necessary talent) has spray paint on its walls which looks kinda incomplete, but not in an abstract and nice way, but like the painters left for other shores.
The interiors are pretty basic, and take their cue from many a space that enthuses on the quirk in the city, but that is as far as the similarity lies. Started by three partners Karthik, Prarthana and Nivedita, it offers pub grub in nice enough space. But the grub itself was just very ordinary or confused. We started the meal with pandi starter (pepper pork) which was nicely cooked, spicy and peppery though it lacked salt. The lamp strewn space has quite evidently tried kitsch but come up lacking in terms of how to utilise the cute knick-knacks.
The next on our agenda were the quesadillas, which to our dismay were like a parantha that forgot to be closed and while the filling was alright, it unraveled in front of us… not so pertinent for pub grub if your hands have to get dirty. And the waiters are so busy watching sports reruns, it’s hard to get their attention, so the service really needs to up its ante if at all it’s going to do well.
We ordered the burger because it would be the one thing that one cannot too wrong in. It was a pulled pork avatar in a sweet sauce, which was ok though a wet burger is not really the best to gobble on. Then we took a leap of faith with the panko crusted basa which took a bit too long to come to our table and when it did, while it looked nice, colourful and fancy shmancy, the taste was again confusing. Coz, it didn’t taste like Panko, more bread crumbed, with an orange zing which was actually quite nice but it came on a risotto which was a bit too milky with chilli flakes and a bassa that was overdone. Too much happening. We liked the open to the road frontage and also the nice boxes and platings that the food came in. But for the rest, a rethink might be in order. Or infact, sticking to basic pub grun instead of going too experimental might do Sotally Tober a world of good, so the experience feels as good and quirk inspired as its name. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Sotally Tober
769, 80 Feet Road, Koramangala 4th Block, Bangalore
Call: 080 49652488
Meal for two: Rs 8oo onwards
Must-haves: The cocktails like margaritas and other classics
