It’s one thing to visit a place and absorb all its offerings but it’s a feat in itself to create a space that not just visually resembles a famous tourist destination but feels like it too! Comfortably lounged in a cosy cabana with a glass of People’s Obsession (a gin-based cocktail concocted with elderflower, tonic, soda and blueberries) in our hand, we were completely in awe of this new location in Hennur that is inspired by Oia, the most renowned village of Santorini, Greece.
Named after the coastal town, the pub, enveloped in curved-white walls, high arches and domed blue roof caps, boasts several levels that look like they have been layered on to slope exactly how the Greek town appears on the edge of the island by the sea. Although this place does not have a replica of the beautiful blue ocean, it does have a massive pond filled with more than 200 koi fishes to keep you company while you dine beside the water body.
What better way to spend a day of summer than having a long lazy brunch at this mammoth of a space spanning 87,000 sq ft that claims to be the largest pub in Asia. We got an exclusive preview of Oia, which is officially set to open this Saturday for everybody else. The serene and inviting ambience of the place opens up to an open courtyard generously sprinkled with various types of seating arrangements. Only when one walks further, do we notice that going forward comes another array of features including a well-equipped bar, single-line art murals across the walls in black and a chic wooden bridge that adds a romantic touch to this place.
That’s not all, the staircases lead you to another set of jaw-dropping areas of the pub and we fell in love with the stadium diner and the rooftop dotted with vintage balconies that looks over the entire pub below. At this point, we were reminded of the sign at the entrance that read ‘everything under the sun’ and we couldn’t agree more. To top it off, we reached the topmost level just in time to catch the sun sinking into the horizon and to say the least, this is as close as someone could get to this Aegean Island without actually flying out to the European country.
Heading back downstairs, we were ready for another round of refreshing drinks after having ventured out into the sun. We ordered Foxy and I Know It, a vodka-based potion infused with orange and a couple of their signature dishes. As we downed the citrus drink, Edamame Tokri Tart filled with truffle mayonnaise tomato, gooseberry relish and balsamic caviar and Wicked Tofu Cornets loaded with crispy tofu bites and sriracha mayo, made their way to our table in fancy wooden containers. The flavours of both the dishes were as impressive as their presentation but we couldn’t stop munching on the cones containing tofu, delectable!
We were then presented with Tandoori Burrata Cheese Salad, a fusion dish where a rumali roti papad was topped with chimichurri chutney, cherry tomatoes, gooseberry relish, toasted seeds and leafy greens with creamy melted burrata in between. And this was just amazing! We also sampled the Lord Of Rings which features spicy rings of calamari dusted with flour, tartare sauce and peri peri mayo. The spicy after notes were not the best choice of the heat but the full-bodied calamari rings were worth a few tears.
To help ourselves recover from the piquant flavours of the previous dish, we requested a plate of Penne Alfredo Fungi prepared with creamy white sauce, parmesan and slices of wild mushrooms. With just the look of it, we could tell that it wasn’t promising to be a great dish and once we sampled a spoonful of pasta, we were disappointed that the dish proved us right.
We skipped dessert and chose to wrap up our meals as we were content with the food and the picturesque views. We agree that Oia is a little far but take our word, the place is worth a visit — not just for the aesthetics of the pub but the wide variety of dishes from global cuisines too.
Meal for two: ₹1,600 onwards. At Hennur.