"Oye Shaava" - Church street, Bangalore

It was Sunday and our cook didn’t turn up. There was a ray of hope for dinner in Subhra, he had to give his birthday treat. He called at 7 and we were ready to leave by 8. The venue was not yet decided. We thought of going to a nearby place, but he asserted on going to some place, which we have not yet tried. Then be it, who can say no to the host.

Oye Amritsar was one restaurant, which we had heard of with high praise. We got packed in Subhra’s car and left for MG Road. Oye Amritsar is on 3rd floor in Church Street. It serves North Indian food made typically Punjabi style. One unique thing that is available there is Sarson-da-Saag (vegetable made from spinach and mustard leaves). Cruising through Bangalore’s traffic we reached Brigade road within 1.5 hr. We parked the car and strolled our way to the restaurant. As we entered the 3rd story restaurant, disappointment encountered us in the form of no vacancy. The manager asked for 30 – 40 minutes but we didn’t have the patience to wait. He then recommended us to the restaurant just below and told us that the kitchen was common for both so we can savor the same food there. As we entered “Oye shaava” it was nothing like “Oye Amritsar”. While the latter had an ambience of a truck with all the slogans written around, the former was more of a refined dining place with a look of a continental restaurant. There was a bar on the side and enough space to eat. We took a six-seated table and made ourselves comfortable. The waiters were made to wear a sort of dummy patkas to represent Punjab. Had they spoken in Punjabi, would have been a real joy. It was an exclusive dinner treat so we just had a look at the bar menu. It looked decent with nearly everything available.
The onus of ordering was on me this time. Though it didn’t mean anything but the reason for this shift was cause I am from Punjab. We ordered a tandoori chicken, alu tikki for vegetarians and another dry Afghani style chicken as starters and chicken shorba. The dishes were named after various cities of Punjab and the names had a touch of Punjabi e.g. chicken was referred as kukad. The food was awesome till now. Chicken was properly roasted with the perfect combination of spices. The tikki too was good. The shorba was very different from the general chicken soup and was more like the gravy chicken we prepare at home and was very spicy.
For the main course, everyone decided on vegetarian diet and I was again asked to pick something peculiar of the state, which we can’t get elsewhere. The obvious choice was Sarson-da-Saag but I was very skeptical as I had never ever had good saag in a restaurant. Nevertheless I ordered, along with makki di roti (chapatti made from gram flour) and a glass of lassi for all. To be true, it was the best saag I ever had in any restaurant. Though it was nowhere in comparison to the one you get at home but still it was quite close to it. The chapatti was also soft and cooked properly. There were just a couple of things missing with the saag, like a radish salad and white home made butter. They would have added the real Punjabi touch to the food. The lassi was a real icing on the cake. It had a little malai on the top and had a touch of rosewater.
With stomachs filled till the brim and wishes for Subhra for his treat we left the restaurant for home. To sum I believe it was the best Punjabi food I had in my 4 years outside Punjab.

Coming on to the rating business for analytical minds to judge on the restaurant, I’ll say (on a scale of 10)
Ambience – 8
Taste – 8
Value for Money – 8