Despite having the Aloft Hotel next door to my office, I hadn’t actually gone there, till the MTV Aloft Star event – a competition for live music bands. The food was splendid there, serving American, Mexican and Italian, along with a very wide spread of Indian food. It was one of the most impressive spreads I had ever seen at an event, and each of the dishes, well whatever I managed to try, was distinctly made, not just like any buffet that you’d find. So we went back for a week day dinner to try more.

Nook is a bright cheerful restaurant that serves buffet in lunch and dinner, though they have an a la carte menu as well. They had a Punjabi food festival running during that time. And no, they weren’t just making Punjabi food, they had chefs and owners from Dhabas in Punjab actually come down to Bangalore and make authentic dishes. A chef from Sodhi da Dhaba in Jallianwala Bagh had actually brought ingredients and spices from back home to make the dishes as authentic as possible!

Our meal started with thick kesar lassis, followed by a variety of starters – Malai Kabab, Tandoori Prawns, lamb chops and lamb sheekh, each rich in flavor, and delightful to taste. The makki roti and sarso saag that followed, totally took the cake. The saag was slow cooked to perfection, and the crisp roti complemented it well. Another vegetarian main that was great was dal badi with potato curry. The badi was fried and crushed, and this preparation was the best I’ve had of it. The chana masala was another ace, one of our favorites that evening! They had a Punjabi gosht curry as well, well cooked meat, rich spicy curry, but it faded slightly in comparison to the vegetarian dishes!

For dessert, after this kind of meal, the space left is quite less. But kheer, sevaiya, and jamun got me hungry again, and despite trying my best to resist, much to my husband’s amusement, I ended up finishing the dessert after a bit of dilly-dally!

A cuisine like Punjabi food which is available so freely, yet with dubious authenticity, this festival had given me the opportunity to have the food cooked straight from the hands of chefs hailing from the state itself. I definitely recommend the place for large groups, especially team lunches and meets. They have live music nights at the adjoining bar, and the place could make a very good hang out!

For details of the property, log onto: http://www.aloftbengalurucessnapark.com/

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