After wrapping up our daily chores in respective professional front; seven foodies from PanchPhoron ended up at Hola for the food tasting and review event. The venue is the newly opened restaurant at Southern Avenue serving Indian, Continental, Oriental and International cuisines. The interior is quirky gives a stand-out feeling from those contemporary grandeur.
Without making further due we took our table and been greeted with unique mocktails carefully crafted by their in-house mixologists. Hola Special Mocktail is watermelon based subtle drink. Oreo Mint Shake will recharge your taste buds with minty zing. Cucumber Sparkler was so refreshing, perfect for those warm days. However, the best of the lot were chili flavored Spicy Twist and Guava Tini, a must try.
Moving on to main course we were first presented with Veg Manchow Soup. The uniqueness here was a small momo dipped inside the soup served in transparent coffee cup. The taste was mild, bit bland to my preference of warm and spicy soup.
Next served on our table were warm and fluffy baos. These baos are made from lotus stem flour which not only makes the flaky and light but this is also low in carbs. Between two options of Chicken Tikka Bao and Chicken Teriyaki Bao my preference will be the later due to this interesting flavor combination.
Melting Mushroom is a cute finger food which is stuffed with 3 types of cheese and topped with molten cheddar cheese. This was an instant hit among foodies and vanished fast from the plates.
Its now time for those sizzling pallet. Please bring on those Chicken and Vegetable Sizzlers. Though the sizzlers were served hot on iron skillets but the vegetable served along perfectly sauteed and not sticking to the base.
No platter can be complete without famous Indian dish Hola’s Chicken Kebab. I have never tasted a kebab so soft that it just melted in your mouth. One of their specialties. However felt that the marination could have been better to remove that raw chicken after-taste.
This followed by famous Indonesian dish, Nasi Goreng Platter. This one complete platter where rice is topped with fried egg and accompanied by prawn chips, chicken and prawn satay. The presentation was eye catch. The rice was bit on the drier side but the smoky taste was heavenly.
The last of the mains was Wasabi Prawn, this was the showstopper for the day. Those juicy sumptuous jumbo prawns infused with wasabi will blow you away with its spark. Don’t make mistake to miss it.
The chef was kind enough to serve his special for the day, the ever classic Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla ice-cream to concluded the event on a sweet note. The dessert section is the weakest link in their menu. More unique options need to be added.
The restaurant has a huge potential from all aspects to rule the hearts of foodies. Servers are very courteous and bar tenders are talented. They need to consistent and keep the menu price reasonable to attract the food connoisseurs. Adiós!