New and Noteworthy: One Night In Bangkok and Chemistry 101

One Night in Bangkok

The White Elephant is a great quencher at Bengaluru’s One Night in Bangkok.

Braving Bengaluru’s highest­ever recorded maximum temperature, I made my way to Indiranagar’s tony 12th main — home to arguably some of Bengaluru’s most popular restaurants — to sample the all new lunch­time menu at One Night in Bangkok. The dimly­lit cool interiors of what claims to be the city’s first ­ever dive bar — some walls painted red, others adorned with pictures of Muay Thai boxers — were a welcome respite from the heat, as were the chilled mocktails that we ordered, the heat prompting us to give the alcohol a miss. The Thai Angel was overly sweet, but the star — perhaps of the whole menu, for me — was the White Elephant (a deliciously refreshing mix of rambutan, coconut, ginger and Thai chillies) with the sweet notes giving way to a spicy kick at the end.

ONIB claims to stay as true to the original Thai flavours as possible without Indianising the taste. “The pastes are made in­house, flavours of lemongrass, basil, galangal and chillies abound,” says Thashvin Muckatira, co­founder of Holy Cow Hospitality, that owns ONIB. “We have intentionally kept the seating to about 55 as we are aware these tastes could have a niche clientele.”

Fried Lotus Stem and The Thai Green Curry at One Night in Bangkok were a hit.

We decided to go the traditional Thai way with our starters — fried Lotus Stem (a tad over­fried), Green Papaya salad and my favourite, the stir fried pork belly — succulent pieces of pork bursting with flavours of basil and chillies. The mains are divided into meal bowls and curries. The Thai Roast Chicken rice — a hearty bowl of subtly­flavoured rice, strips of well­roasted chicken with just the right amount of charring and the perfect accompaniment of Chinese greens stir­fried in light soy sauce — and the Thai Green Curry — another favourite of mine, the curry a perfect balance of all the Thai flavours served with sticky rice. We sampled Southern Dry curry chicken as well as its gravy version that is meant to be a meal for the hungry and is heavy on the coconut milk.

Interestingly, ONIB claims their vegetarian curries don’t have any of the fish sauce, shrimp paste additions that often are a part of these curries. So, those with seafood allergies can eat in peace.

Address: 12th main, Indiranagar
Phone: +91 9739902745
Price: Meal for two – Rs1,200 excluding taxes, without alcohol

Chemistry 101

Agent Vinod aka vodka, triple sec, mango juice and lime juice at Chemistry 101.

There is decorative sea sand under the glass top of the table we’re seated at — a couple of tarot cards scattered all over the sand and liquid nitrogen fumes every which way we looked. The marine-astrology-chemistry lab themes at Chemistry convinced us that with so much going on, we needed a drink fast. Enter Agent Vinod (Rs550): Mango juice with pineapple sperification – mini globes of pineapple juice that gently rolled around in your mouth until you popped them – which was a brilliant addition to the vodka cocktail. Agent Vinod was chased by Cinderella (Rs550), which lived up to its name and turned out to be a pink concoction of vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime juice.

The drinks weren’t cloying or so potent that you forgot that you were drinking a cocktail, so the barmen were definitely on a winning streak. The food had its shares of hits and misses. The Emperor’s Notepad (Rs300) was pretty close to what the menu said it was – carbonised dhoklas served with coconut chutney and a fantastic tamarind sorbet. The black dhoklas needed getting used to both in the form of colour and texture. We thought the dhoklas were a tad too hard.

Carbonised dhoklas served on a bed of edible paper with gunpowder chutney and a brilliant tamarind sorbet. Of course, the dish known as Emperor’s Notepad at Chemistry 101 wouldn’t be complete without the exam pad.

Now if you hadn’t downed several rounds of Agent Vinod or inhaled something stronger than liquid nitrogen fumes, a pair of headphones that played the chirping bird sounds meant to evoke a sense of being in a forest would have been completely lost on you. A favourite of chef Stephen Gomes, Sound of the Enchanted Forest (Rs450) was a plate of cheesy (chicken for non-vegetarians) croquettes that honestly needed no hickory wood smoke or aural simulation. And, perhaps, they should provide noise-cancelling headphones since regular cans don’t filter piped music or shards of conversation from adjoining tables.

The Guardian of the Galaxy (Rs700), could have been a whole lot of fun at a house party if you were totally smashed. But we reckon it might also work with a bunch of middle-aged suits who are looking for their 20s in a game of Jenga, or — in the case of this drink — a visor that plays a psychedelic light show. The highlight of the non-vegetarian menu was Dr Strange, which is essentially egg bhurjee served in a neat glass. The egg white here has been duly exposed to liquid nitrogen, but once you get past that, there is a wonderful interplay of flavours, textures and crunch. Who’d have thought, for instance, that eggs and dehyrdated lotus stems would make for such an excellent combo? seven out of 10 for the effort.

Egg bhurji and dehydrated lotus stems were the stars of Doctor Strange.

The desserts managed to draw out the kid in us. The chocolate heavy Cariad (Rs550) – dark chocolate icecream, lavender cream and orange cream with chocolate mousse – was meant to be shared.

Address: Times Tower, Kamala City, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013
Phone: 022-24967272 / 022-24969494
Price: Meal for two – Rs3500 exclusive of taxes, with alcohol

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