Loading ...Before i start this review I’d like to say that i have always been a fan of Shiok. So when i heard that they opened up at a new location i felt this would be a perfect opportunity to revisit the food that i liked so much.
The night was in celebration of a friends birthday and we were as charged up as we could be given the fact we were heading back from work, and therefore slightly beat. Unfortunately the experience started heading downhill the moment we stepped foot through the door.
The Experience:
Shiok has decided to move upmarket with its new location. Spread over two levels Shiok , the restaurant, caters to the same group of people that come in looking to appease their hunger and MOSS, the lounge bar, services those wanting to relax, listen to music and focus on their drinks.
I walked into MOSS and the first thing that hit me was the color, green as far as the eye can see, which after a while just felt a little eerie but well done up. It was a hot night and being rather empty i presumed the lounge would be considerably cool, however the A/C wasn’t working and I started sweating 5 minutes into drinks. To add to it the chairs were extremely uncomfortable and after about 15 minutes we decide to relocate to the restaurant.
I’m not sure if it was just bad luck, but the chances of me revisiting the lounge is rather slim given my experience here. The restaurant is far more inviting, and needless to say, comfortable.
To Drink:
The one thing that you really look forward to after a long day at work is a decent drink. If you are someone who generally drink stuff that comes straight from a bottle the chances of being disappointed are rather slim. However, if you like some effort to go into your drinks, as with cocktails, you expect a little more. Hell, that’s what they have a bar tender for. As luck would have it the chap at the bar didn’t know what he was doing.
We went through six or seven drinks during the course of the night and i can honestly say that i got more and more agitated with each cocktail that landed on the table. After having sent one drink back we continued to painfully move through the others till we had to leave 2 of the cocktails untouched. Leaving drinks untouched, can you believe it ?
However the saving grace for the night was the Mojito which saved what was rapidly turning into a disaster.
To Eat:
After having had a number of disastrous drinks we decided lets just skip to the food, and given the fact that I’ve always loved the food here I assumed my evening would be saved. How wrong i was!
The starter that always hit the spot was the spiced fish grilled in banana leaves, though on this particular night it wasn’t available. So the next in line was the crispy fish in three flavored sauce – tamarind, chili, garlic and palm sugar topped with basil leaves. It arrived quickly but stank so badly we had to send it back, and yes we did attempt to taste it.
The chicken satay is something that you can never make wrong given how simple it is to put together, again I’m sad to say that they managed to mess that up as well, not to mention serving it with an extremely oily peanut sauce.
The one dish that i did like was the chicken golder basket which was made from finely chopped chicken and sweet corn stir fried with garlic, coriander and white pepper. The idea was interesting, and the execution rather nice.
After having lost heart with the food so far we made another timid attempt to order more substantial fare. The tangy chili fried Indonesian chicken with garlic, shallots and shrimp was actually quite decent, The rice Nasi Goereng was not! I ended up ordering a bowl of steamed rice.
Finishing Up:
We did end on a higher note with the blueberry cheesecake.
The Fine Print:
Type: Bar and Restaurant
Cuisine: Thai, Pan-Asian
Meal Details: Lunch and Dinner
Alcohol? : Yes
Meal for 2: A “meal” for 2 would set you back around Rs 1500
Cards? : Yes
Gripes:
Terrible drinks and while the food wasn’t horrible ( with the exception of the fish ) it leaves a lot to be desired given the fact that this restaurant aims to be more upmarket. Truly saddened by what’s happening to this once nice restaurant. Avoid!
Ratings:
Price: 3/5
Food: 2/5
Ambience: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Contact Info:
65715555, 65716666
Getting there:
96, Amar Jyoti Layout, Inner Ring Road, Domlur
Hi. I’m the owner of Shiok. I’m sorry about your bad experience at Shiok/Moss. Our AC broke down a month or so ago and our vendor pulled a disappearing act, leaving us in the lurch. We’re getting a brand new unit installed this week, so it should fix that.
If you don’t mind, perhaps you could write to me and tell me what it was that you didn’t like about the food and drink. Our chefs have been the same through the last five years so perhaps they were having an off day. I am surprised, however, that all the cocktails were not good. What didn’t you like about them?
Madhu,
Firstly, I’m very impressed at how quickly you managed to respond to this post. The wonders of Google alerts no doubt!!
Getting to the problems we faced.
The issue of having your A/C breaking down in completely understandable, however it would make sense if the guest are made aware of this by the staff in charge. I remember asking someone to turn up the A/C twice before i made the decision to head downstairs.
As i mentioned the biggest problem we had with the food had to do with the fish, the smell and taste really ruined the experience. It was actually so overpowering that we had to ask the waiter to take it away from the table. The Chicken satay was also very sub-standard given what I’m used to. The fact that the peanut dip had way too much oil in it didn’t help its cause either.
I didn’t care for the rice very much either, it was extremely spicy and the flavours were so overpowering that i honestly couldn’t tell you what i was tasting.
On the plus side, good job on the chicken in golden basket! It was very nice.
My biggest contention was with the cocktails, the long island iced tea was extremely sweet and the margarita was very watered down. There were three other cocktails that we ordered ( the names escape me ) the first we sent back because it wasn’t made well the other two we didn’t feel like sending back ( given how much we had sent back already ) though we left it at the end of the table without finishing it.
As i mentioned the Mojito was pretty nice ( it is a rather simple drink to make ) so that saved the night for me.
I hope there is a serious effort to revise the drinks you have on offer, and possibly introducing a feedback form ( there is a higher likelihood of someone commenting if they’ve had a bad experience ).
- AF
Hey ‘foodie’, have visited your blog for the first time and i think its WONDERFUL… looks great and the format’s just brilliant
As for the dinner we had at Shiok … i like the way you’ve captured it and it was disastrous to say the least! I’ve been a die hard Shiok fan for the longest time and was extremely saddened by the experience.
@ Madhu: You really have to do something; the fish was stale , the minced chicken in lettuce cups were just not the same as before and the cocktails which i think were the best in town were a shock ! the mix was just not right and they weren’t chilled enough either.
Lavina,
Glad you like the blog!
- AF