? Hit the road Jack & don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no more? started playing in my head the moment I sent away that awful Basil presto spare ribs. It was a busy Friday & we had been all around the town looking for a piece of hardware for our household. By the time we finished our purchase our blood sugar was going down with the Sun & we were in the vicinity of quite a few restaurants in Ashok nagar. It was too early for Hae Kum Gang, Plan B was ruled out coz of a recent visit & definitely we were in no mood for an INR295 Caesar Salad at Olive Beach. After some brainstorming we drove towards Woodstock Indira Nagar & accidentally found Road Trip on our right, a few hundred meters before our original destination. We had never been there & there was no reason to scoot forward .My WHY NOT this place? was followed by her “SURE!” …in the next few minutes we were sitting at a table of our choice.
I had never been on a road trip in the USA, hence I cannot comment on the concept reproduced here. Special menu on a blackboard, hanging motorcycle dynamo lights, cement flooring, a semi open kitchen with a beer- mocktail bar right on the other side of it influence the ambience. The service was quick but the waiter did nothing beyond bringing food to our table.
The complimentary soft bun basket with a salty butter center was a great start. The draught beer was crisp & I managed a couple of pitchers smoothly. Virgin Pinacolada was overly sweet, but the cold coffee that followed recovered her taste buds. Caesar chicken salad made out of Romaine lettuce was mixed with a very mild dressing that did not balance the bitterness of the leaves. Upon pointing this out to our waiter, he left with the salad, only to return after 2 minutes with the salad in the same state on one hand & a small dressing dip in another for us to help ourselves. Sautéed beef & Grilled beef were more like identical twins, they tasted almost the same, & the only differentiator was their respective prefixes. Basil presto spare ribs for main course was inedible. Chicken Schnitzel being a crumb fried dish should be crisp, but ours was soggy & only apple pulp saved it from becoming yet another disappointment. Chicken stuffed Ravioli in mushroom crème sauce was fantastic & was by far the best from their kitchen. Lemon Meringue pie had a dry crust, but I liked the lemon curd that topped it. Chocolate Roulade barely managed to pass as the sponge cake was slightly watery.
The final bill had to be reworked a couple of times as the numbers were not right. Accidents do happen on a road trip, but still people take the road. I might take this road again someday, sometime for the love of Ravioli at least.
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