Rooftop restaurant offers familiar flavours in new forms

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Bangalore, Sarjapur Road has a new offering — their open-air rooftop restaurant, Spot 360. It is a charming poolside space serving modern Indian cuisine.

The menu is limited and filled with familiar flavours presented in innovative ways. We began with a selection of chaats. The golgappa shots had the sophistication of a five-star restaurant dish whilst staying true to the lip-smacking flavours of street food. The aloo tikki had familiar flavours but what took it up a notch was its texture, which was similar to that of a hash brown.

We then moved on to a ‘DIY Bruschetta Basket’. Served with thinly sliced baguettes were pork sausage, beef keema and a kachumber salad. The meats flavoured with Indian spices were cooked to perfection. The heavy spices were cut expertly with the light and tangy salad.

The restaurant also offers a unique selection of cocktails and homemade infusions. We tried their ‘White Wine and Berries Sangria’, ‘Brandy Alexander’ and the ‘Earl Grey Tea Gin’. The gin was smooth with subtle notes of the tea. The retro cocktail was creamy and slightly sweet, making it an easy drink to sip on. The Sangria was a let down. The tart flavour of the berries that was anticipated was barely there.

From the barbeque section of the menu, we tried the ‘Romesco Tandoori Prawns’, ‘Mirchi wala Paneer Tikka’ and ‘Masala Corn on the Cob’. Our favourite of the lot was the corn. The slightly charred cob was smothered with lemon and chilli. The generous swipe of mayo elevated the dish by adding another dimension of flavour and creaminess.

The paneer was slightly hard and the spice was very subtle. While we enjoyed the flavours, the texture of the cheese was a let down.

The prawns, served whole in their shells, were disappointing. The marinade didn’t hit the mark and needed more than a generous squeeze of lemon to salvage it. The meat, though well-cooked, wasn’t prepared well giving it a bitter after-taste.

Moving on to mains, we were presented with their take on tacos. The selection of ‘Phulka Tacos’ came in chicken, fish and paneer varieties. While the proteins were well cooked, the flavour profile was similar making the bites quite boring to alternate between. The green apple garnish was an inspired touch.

Next we had the ‘Ultimate Dal Bowl’which includes bowls of yellow tadkewale dal and dal makhani served with naan crisps. While the idea of the dish was intriguing it was poorly executed. The dals were under salted and lacked flavour. There was no tadka on the yellow dal and the dal makhani was not creamy. The naan crisps too, were heavily under salted and tasted of oil.

Our last savoury dish was the ‘Mogewala Martaban Meat’ served with matta rice. No stranger to the red rice from Kerala, it was interesting to see it in such a setting. Unfortunately the rice was extremely under-cooked, which sadly took away the focus from the mutton curry which was very tasty.

For desserts, we had their ‘Signature Broken Cookie Sundae’ and ‘Chocochip Cookie Cup’. The walnut and chocolate chip cookie cup was filled with a caramel ice cream and it was too hard to break, taking away from the experience. The broken cookie sundae had cookies with chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a berry compote.

While the textures were odd, the flavours were similar to a black forest cake, which kept us going back for more.

While there were hits and misses, I’d go back for the ‘Bruschetta Basket’, the corn on the cob and the laid back atmosphere.